leprechaun

A small, mischievous sprite in Irish folklore. He is supposed to grind meal, make shoes, and do other services for persons who treat him well, and, if spellbound by a fixed gaze, to give up an inexhaustible fairy purse.

Variants: lupricán, a sprite, a fairy of diminutive size, who always carries a purse containing a shilling; leithbhrágan, a pigmy sprite supposed to always be employed at making or mending a single shoe; and lychryman: a pigmy, sprite.

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Early 17th century. Irish leipreachán, from Old Irish luchorpán, "small body."

References

Source

  • Wright, J. (1902). The English dialect dictionary. Vol. 3. London: H. Frowde.