sheela-na-gig
English
12th century carving of a sheela-na-gig at the church of Saint Mary and Saint David in Kilpeck, Herefordshire, England
Etymology
From Irish Síle na gcíoch (“Julia of the breasts”). Attested in English from the 19th century.
Noun
sheela-na-gig (plural sheela-na-gigs)
- A carving of a naked woman with an exaggerated vulva, found in old British and Irish architecture and supposed to ward off death and evil.
References
- John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “sheela-na-gig”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.