Home › Glossary › Letter B

Banshee

Folklore
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A female spirit from Irish myth whose wail foretells death in a family

Detailed Definition
The banshee’s mournful cry is an omen of impending doom, tied to specific Gaelic lineages. In poetry, she embodies grief, ancestral memory, and the inevitability of death, frequently invoked to evoke melancholy, fate, or the supernatural’s intrusion into the mundane.
Example
Example in poetry:
The banshee’s wail features in Irish elegiac poetry: "Before the news arrived, the banshee keened at dawn"; Poets use her as omen of personal loss: "Her cry not loud, but deep—a thread of grief through midnight air"; In modern verse, she symbolizes inherited trauma: "My grandmother heard her too—that same thin note of family doom"; Her presence blurs myth and memory: "Was it wind in chimney cracks, or banshee singing for my kin?"
Additional Notes
Banshee: A female spirit from Irish and Scottish Gaelic folklore whose wail foretells death in a family. Often described as a washerwoman at riversides or a veiled woman with long hair. In poetry, she embodies grief, ancestral memory, or the inescapability of fate. Related to the bean sí (Irish) and caoineag (Scottish). Avoid stereotyping—her role is mournful, not malicious; effective in elegiac or gothic poetry.
Other Meanings of “Banshee”
Also Known As
Bean sídhe Banshie Banshee wail Banshee Witch bansídhe
Skip to main content