banshee

The definition of banshee means a mythological female spirit who cries to warn of an upcoming death.

(noun)

An example of a banshee is a ghost who enters a house wailing as a warning.

See banshee in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

Celt. Folklore a female spirit believed to wail outside a house as a warning that a death will occur soon in the family

Origin: Ir bean sidhe < bean, woman (see gyno-) + sith, fairy

See banshee in American Heritage Dictionary 4

also ban·shie

noun

A female spirit in Gaelic folklore believed to presage, by wailing, a death in a family.

Origin:

Origin: Irish Gaelic bean sídhe, woman of the fairies, banshee

Origin: : bean, woman (from Old Irish ben; see g^wen- in Indo-European roots)

Origin: + sídhe, fairy (from Old Irish síde, genitive of síd, fairy mound; see sed- in Indo-European roots)

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