Definition of banshee Banshee

/bænʃiˈ/ - [banshee] - ban•shee

We found 6 definitions of banshee from 6 different sources.

What does banshee mean?

Noun Plural: banshees
banshee - (Irish folklore) a female spirit who wails to warn of impending death
		banshie
		disembodied spirit, spirit a fundamental emotional and activating principle determining one's character
		folklore the unwritten lore (stories and proverbs and riddles and songs) of a culture

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banshee (Noun)
In Irish folklore, a female spirit, usually taking the form of a woman whose mournful wailing warns of an impending death. Originally a fairy woman singing a caoineadh lament for recently-deceased members of the O’Grady, the O’Neill, the O’Brien, the O’Connor, and the Kavanagh families, translations into English made a distinction between the banshee and other fairy folk that the original language and original stories do not seem to have, and thus the current image of the banshee.

banshee
ban′shē, n. a female fairy in Ireland and elsewhere, who makes herself known by wailings and shrieks before a death in the particular family to which she is attached. [Ir. bean sídhe, Old Ir. ben síde, woman of the fairies.]