leprechaun

/lep"reuh kawn', -kon'/, n. Irish Folklore.

1. a dwarf or sprite.

2. a conventionalized literary representation of this figure as a little old man who will reveal the location of a hidden crock of gold to anyone who catches him.

[1595-1605; < Ir leipreachán, lucharachán, MIr luchrapán, lupra(c)cán, metathesized forms of OIr lúchorp(án), equiv. to lú- small + corp body ( < L corpus) + -án dim. suffix]

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In Irish folklore, a fairy in the form of a tiny old man wearing a cocked hat and leather apron.

Solitary by nature, leprechauns lived in remote places and worked as shoemakers. Each was believed to possess a hidden crock of gold. If captured and threatened, a leprechaun might reveal the gold's hiding place, provided his captor never took his eyes off him. Usually the captor was tricked into glancing away, and the leprechaun vanished. The word derives from the Old Irish luchorpan ("little body").

Leprechaun, from the Irish Fairy Book, by Alfred Perceval Crave, 1909.

Courtesy of the Folklore Society Library, University College, London; photograph, R.B. Fleming

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▪ Irish folklore

 in Irish folklore, fairy in the form of a tiny old man often with a cocked hat and leather apron. Solitary by nature, he is said to live in remote places and to make shoes and brogues. The sound of his hammering betrays his presence. He possesses a hidden crock of gold; if captured and threatened with bodily violence, he might, if his captor keeps his eyes on him, reveal its hiding place. But usually the captor is tricked into glancing away, and the fairy vanishes.

      The word derives ultimately from Old Irish luchorpan, “little body.”

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