clarsach
Syllables: clar·sach/ˈklɑːsək/
clarsach noun: a small triangular wire-strung harp of Gaelic origin.
Noun
clarsach (plural clarsachs)
- A small triangular wire-strung harp of Gaelic origin.
- And I, beside the lake of swans, / Shall hunt for thee the fallow deer; / And build thy hut and bring thee home / The wild fowl, and the honey-comb; / And berries from the wood provide, / And play my clarshech by thy side.1810, Thomas Campbell, “O’Connor's Child, or, The Flower of Love Lies Bleeding”, in The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell. […], Baltimore, Md.: Printed for Philip H[oulbrooke] Nicklin & Co., […]...
- [S]he sate down at a little distance upon the bench on which Allan M‘Aulay was placed, and tuning her clairshach, a small harp, about thirty inches in height, she accompanied it with her voice.1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VI, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume III (A Legend of Montrose), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for...
- Synonyms:
- Celtic harp, Gaelic harp
Examples of clarsach in a sentence
- The craft of making clarsachs or harps continues despite the fact that of the three principal instruments played in Scotland over the centuries the clarsach is almost certainly the oldest.1974, Michael Brander, Scottish Crafts and Craftsmen, Edinburgh: Johnston and Bacon, →ISBN, page 66:
- [T]here are two examples of the earliest clarsachs in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland.1986, Emily Ann Donaldson, The Scottish Highland Games in America, Gretna, New Orleans, La.: Firebird Press, Pelican Publishing Company...
Synonyms of clarsach
- Celtic harp
- Gaelic harp
Forms of clarsach
| plural | clarsachs |
|---|---|
| alternative form | clareschaw |
| alternative form | clerschew |
| alternative form | clersha |
| alternative form | clarishoe |
| alternative form | clairschach |
| alternative form | clairshach |
| alternative form | clashach |
| alternative form | clàrsach |
| alternative form | clarseach |
| alternative form | clearsach |
Origin of clarsach
Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic clàrsach (“harp”) by the 1810s, possibly from clàr (“board, plank; table”). The word is cognate with Irish cláirseach (“harp”).
Questions about clarsach
- What does clarsach mean?
- Clarsach means a small triangular wire-strung harp of Gaelic origin.
- How do you use clarsach in a sentence?
- The craft of making clarsachs or harps continues despite the fact that of the three principal instruments played in Scotland over the centuries the clarsach is almost certainly the oldest.
- What part of speech is clarsach?
- Clarsach is a noun.
- How do you pronounce clarsach?
- Clarsach is pronounced /ˈklɑːsək/ (UK).
- What is the plural of clarsach?
- The plural of clarsach is clarsachs.
Words near clarsach in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: clarsach (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-clarsach.wav.
Cite this entry: “clarsach.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clarsach. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.