selkie

English

Alternative forms

silkie

Etymology

From Scots selkie fowk (“seal folk”).

Noun

selkie (plural selkies)

A seal which can magically transform into a human by shedding its skin.

Translations

mythological creature

Chinese:
Mandarin: 海豹人 (hǎibàorén), 海豹精 (hǎibàojīng)
Faroese: kópakona f
French: selkie (fr) m or f, phoque-garou (fr) m
German: Selkie
Irish: maighdean mhara f, (rare) maighdean róin f, banrón m, leanbh-rón m

Japanese: セルキー (serukī)
Manx: moidyn varrey f
Russian: шелки (šelki), селки (selki)
Scots: (collectively) selkie fowk, (male) silkie man, (female) selkie-wife
Scottish Gaelic: maighdeann-mhara f, (rare) maighdeann-ròin f

Anagrams

Lieske

Scots

Alternative forms

saelkie, selky, seilkie, sejlki, shelky, silkey, silkie, sulky
sylkie (Shetland)

Etymology

selch +‎ -ie

Noun

selkie (plural selkies)

Diminutive of selch (“common seal, grey seal”)

Derived terms

silkie man (“male selkie”, literally “male seal”)
selkie-wife (“female selkie, mermaid”, literally “female seal”)
selkie fowk (“selkie”, literally “seal people”)

Further reading

“Selch” in Dictionary of the Scots Language, Scottish Language Dictionaries, Edinburgh
"selkie" in The Orkney Dictionary, 1996, by Margaret Flaws and Gregor Lamb.

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