leprechaun
/ˈlɛpɹəkɔːn//ˈlɛpɹəˌkɔn/
leprechaun noun: a type of diminutive, solitary fairy or sprite, traditionally depicted as a small, bearded man wearing a green coat and hat, often found repairing a single shoe; they typically possess hidden treasure, such as a pot of gold hidden at the end of a rainbow, and can be forced to reveal its location if captured.
Noun
leprechaun (plural leprechauns)
- A type of diminutive, solitary fairy or sprite, traditionally depicted as a small, bearded man wearing a green coat and hat, often found repairing a single shoe; they typically possess hidden treasure, such as a pot of gold hidden at the end of a rainbow, and can be forced to reveal its location if captured.
- So they wint, an' Tom held the Leprechaun fast in his hand, an' nivir tuk his eyes frum aff uv him, though they had to crass hidges an' ditches, an' a cruked bit uv a bog (fur the Leprechaun seemed, out o' pure mischief, to pick out the hardest and most conthrairy way), till at last they come to a...1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 375
- Do you not catch the tiny clamour, / Busy click of an elfin hammer, / Voice of the leprechaun singing shrill, / As he merrily plies his trade?1888, William Allingham, “The Lepracaun; or Fairy Shoemaker”, in William Butler Yeats, editor, Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, pages 86–87
- An Irish person.
leprechaun meaning in Marathi, Malayalam, Arabic and Myanmar
leprechaun in Marathi
- one of a race of Irish elves
- लेप्रकॉन leprakŏn
leprechaun in Malayalam
- elf, pixie, goblin
- കുട്ടിച്ചാത്തൻ, ഭൂതം, ചാത്തൻ, കരിങ്കുട്ടി, കരിങ്കുട്ടിച്ചാത്തൻ, കരുമകൻ
leprechaun in Arabic
- one of a race of Irish elves
- لِيبْرِيكَان lēbrīkān
leprechaun in Myanmar
- one of a race of Irish elves
- လက်ပရားခုန်း lakpa.ra:hkun:
Forms of leprechaun
| plural | leprechauns |
|---|---|
| alternative form | lepracaun |
| alternative form | leprocaun |
| alternative form | lurikeen |
Origin of leprechaun
From Irish leipreachán, luprachán, from Middle Irish luchrupán, from Old Irish luchorpán. See also Irish lucharachán. The word's further etymology is disputed; it is traditionally explained as a compound containing lú (“small”, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ-) + corp (“body”, which is from Latin corpus). However, an alternative suggestion is that it is a derivative of Latin Lupercī (“priests of Lupercus”), who were misinterpreted as an antediluvian species by medieval Irish scholars. Suffix may have been assimilated to Irish -achán (“diminutive”), compare derivation of clurichaun.
Words formed from leprechaun
Questions about leprechaun
- What does leprechaun mean?
- Leprechaun means a type of diminutive, solitary fairy or sprite, traditionally depicted as a small, bearded man wearing a green coat and hat, often found repairing a single shoe; they typically possess hidden treasure, such as a pot of gold hidden at the end of a rainbow, and can be forced to reveal its location if captured.
- What is leprechaun in Marathi?
- Leprechaun in Marathi is लेप्रकॉन (leprakŏn). See Leprechaun meaning in Marathi.
- What part of speech is leprechaun?
- Leprechaun is a noun.
- How do you pronounce leprechaun?
- Leprechaun is pronounced /ˈlɛpɹəkɔːn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of leprechaun?
- The plural of leprechaun is leprechauns.
Words near leprechaun in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: leprechaun (page history and authors); leprechaun (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). 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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-leprechaun.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-leprechaun.wav.
Cite this entry: “leprechaun.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/leprechaun. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.