hibernian

hibernian — adjective

  • hibernianpositive
  • more hiberniancomparative
  • most hiberniansuperlative

1. connected with Ireland or with Irish people, culture, or traditions

1.adjectiveC2
Definition

connected with Ireland or with Irish people, culture, or traditions

Example

The museum opened a new room for Hibernian art and early maps.

Hibernian + noun: art / history / music

A professor gave a lecture on Hibernian place names along the coast.

formal topic label before a noun

Common collocations
  • Hibernian art
  • Hibernian history
  • Hibernian customs
  • Hibernian place names
Synonyms
  • Irish

    the usual everyday adjective; Hibernian is formal or literary

Grammar Patterns

Hibernian + noun

Usage Note

Usually seen in formal, historical, or literary writing. In everyday English, Irish is the normal choice.

Common Mistakes

We had a Hibernian coworker from Dublin.
We had an Irish coworker from Dublin.
In everyday conversation, Irish is much more natural than the formal word Hibernian.

hibernian — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Irish is the normal everyday word for things connected with Ireland. Hibernian is much more formal and usually appears in historical, literary, or institutional contexts. If you are talking about modern people, food, music, or daily life, Irish is usually the natural choice.

Irish ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • Hibernian art
  • Hibernian history
  • Hibernian customs
  • Hibernian place names

Phrases

  • a proud Hibernian
  • young Hibernian
  • elderly Hibernian

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Hibernian comes from Hibernia, the Latin name for Ireland. In English it developed as a formal or literary adjective and noun referring to Ireland or to Irish people.