n [io], m. Also beith f., IGT Decl. § 14.

(a) birch-tree, birch-wood: ássaid beithi tria doirnnin `a birch grows through its handle' (of a bell), Trip. 248.11 . samalta ra cír ṁbethi like the top of a birch-tree, MU² 586. ro ésraít a tigi do bethi barralaind barrglas, TFerbe 65 . One of the `athaigh feada,' Laws iv 146.24 ( Auraic. 1154 ). gecca do crannaibh nemhthorthacha eile . . . .i. b.¤ ┐ fernocc (`beeches'), BNnÉ 239.29 . a bheithi blaith bennachtach `O birch, smooth and blessed', BS 66.9 . ar barrdhos úr b.¤ bhuig, Magauran 1244 . is airi remitet (? sic leg. cf. 5488 ) b.¤ sech gach fidh, ar is and rosgripad ogum, Auraic. 2800. a n-aonfleisg do beithi on one birch-stave, 2804 . (on the four woods in the Cross) bethe bán i mbúi in sgríbenn, ZCP viii 107.11 . ba bethe a titail, 13 = ba bethe clar a titail, Goid. 66 n . cethri fedha na croiche .i. cupriss, cedir, giús, b.¤ , ZCP iv 235 n.23 . Note also: bethe gl. `haec buxus' arbor, Thes. ii 226.33 .

(b) the letter b , see Meroney, Early Ir. Letter-names, Speculum xxiv 27 , cf. Thurneysen, ZCP xvii 295. b.¤ dno on b.¤ ro hainmnigheadh ar cosmaillius fri cois in bh.¤ ut dicitur: Feocos foltchain in beithi, Auraic. 1157. vii mbethi a n-aonfleisg do beithi seven b's on one stave of birch-wood, 2804 . atait dano litri coibhnesta i nogum . . . amal atat beithi ┐ fern ┐ ifín, BB 301b19 . ní aithgēonad á sech beith he would not know a from b., ZCP v 483 § 5. beithe bogtha the letter p Celtica x 116 . gan bh.¤ bogtha do rádha innti (viz. in the Aibghitear), IGT Introd. § 1.8 . beth, crann bethe, bethluisnion `ye alphabet . . . from the first 2 letters B and L', Eg. Gl. 705.

In n. loc. Buindi in b.¤ , RC xviii 10.29 (Tig.). Buidhi an bh., AFM ii 1000.16 . As landmark: gonice in béith edar da álterin `as far as the birch tree between two Alterins', Goid. 109.21 (see Ériu xvi 98 n.2 ).

As n. pr. f. ?: foracsat mac slán slattra / Aes is Bethe bán bechta, Metr. Dinds. iii 106.18 .

See beithe-luis(-nin).