Word.ws English Dictionary

taghairm

Syllables: ta·ghai·rm/ˈtaɡəɹəm/US/ˈtæɡəɹəm/

taghairm noun: a method of divination involving wrapping a person in the hide of a freshly-killed ox which was then placed beside a waterfall or other desolate place, to enable the person to foresee the outcome of an impending battle; the oracle of the hide.

Noun

taghairm (usually uncountable, plural taghairms)

  1. (Scotland, historical, usually) A method of divination involving wrapping a person in the hide of a freshly-killed ox which was then placed beside a waterfall or other desolate place, to enable the person to foresee the outcome of an impending battle; the oracle of the hide.
    • There were different kinds of taghairm, of which one was very lately practiſed in Sky. The diviner covered himſelf with a cow's hide, and repaired at night to ſome deep-ſounding cave, whither the perſon who conſulted him followed ſoon after without any attendants. At the mouth of the cave he...1797, “NECROMANCY”, in Encyclopædia Britannica; or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature; [...] In Eighteen Volumes, 3rd greatly enlarged edition, volume XII, Edinburgh...
    • [page 146] [L]ast evening-tide / Brian an augury hath tried, / Of that dread kind which must not be / Unless in dread extremity, / The Taghairm called; by which, afar, / Our sires foresaw the events of war. / Duncraggan's milk-white bull they slew, […] [page lxv] Notes to Canto Fourth. Note I. […]...1810, Walter Scott, “Canto IV. The Prophecy.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William...
  2. (Scotland, historical, usually) A method of divination in which cats were roasted alive to call up the spirit of the demon cat who would grant the wishes of the torturers.
    • The last time the Taigheirm was performed in the Highlands, was in the island of Mull, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the place is still well known to the inhabitants. […] The institution was no doubt of pagan origin, and was a sacrifice offered to the Evil Spirit, in return for...1824 March 13, “Traditions of the Western Highlands. No. II. The Taigheirm.”, in The Literary Gazette, and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c., number 373, London: Printed by B. Bensley...
    • According to Horst's Deuteroscopy, black cats were indispensable to the incantation ceremony of the Taigheirm, and these were dedicated to the subterranean gods, or, later, to the demons of Christianity. […] When the Taigheirm was complete, the sacrificer demanded of the spirits the reward of his...1854, Joseph Ennemoser, “The Magic of the Ancient Germans and of the Northern Nations”, in William Howitt, transl., edited by Mary Howitt, The History of Magic. … To which is Added an Appendix of the...

Examples of taghairm in a sentence

  • There were different kinds of taghairm, of which one was very lately practiſed in Sky.1797, “NECROMANCY”, in Encyclopædia Britannica; or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature; [...] In Eighteen...
  • One of the most noted was the Taghairm, mentioned in the text.1810, Walter Scott, “Canto IV. The Prophecy.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne...
  • In the taghairm the seer was bound in an animal's hide and left by the waters, the spirits of which inspired his dreams[…].1911, J[ohn] A[rnott] MacCulloch, “CELTS”, in James Hastings, editor, Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, volumes III...

Forms of taghairm

pluraltaghairms
alternative formtaigheirm

Origin of taghairm

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic taghairm, from Old Irish togairm, from Proto-Celtic *to-garrman, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵh₂r̥-smn̥, from *ǵeh₂r- (“to call, to shout”); compare Irish toghairm (“an invocation, a summons”), from gairm, gair (“to call; to invoke”), ultimately from the same Proto-Indo-European roots. The Encyclopædia Britannica (3rd ed., 1797) suggests a derivation from Scottish Gaelic ta (“a ghost, a spirit”) + gairm (“to call, to cry”), while the editor of an 1871 edition of Sir Walter Scott’s The Lady of the Lake suggested tarbh (“a bull”) or targair (“to foretell”). These etymologies are no longer to be taken seriously.

Questions about taghairm

What does taghairm mean?
Taghairm means a method of divination involving wrapping a person in the hide of a freshly-killed ox which was then placed beside a waterfall or other desolate place, to enable the person to foresee the outcome of an impending battle; the oracle of the hide.
How do you use taghairm in a sentence?
There were different kinds of taghairm, of which one was very lately practiſed in Sky.
What part of speech is taghairm?
Taghairm is a noun.
How do you pronounce taghairm?
Taghairm is pronounced /ˈtaɡəɹəm/ (UK).
What is the plural of taghairm?
The plural of taghairm is taghairms.

Words near taghairm in the dictionary

  1. tagging out
  2. tagging up
  3. taggings
  4. Taggs
  5. taggy
  6. taghairm
  7. taghairms
  8. Tagharigue
  9. Taghkanic
  10. tagholder
  11. tagholders

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taghairm (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-taghairm.wav.

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