noun
IrishEspecially in Ireland: a warm welcome; good hospitality.
exclamation
IrishAs a greeting: welcome; (literally) ‘a hundred thousand welcomes’.
Origin
Early 19th century; earliest use found in Sydney Morgan (bap. 1783, d. 1859), novelist and socialite. Originally from Irish céad míle fáilte a hundred thousand welcomes from céad hundred + míle thousand (Early Irish míle from classical Latin mília, mílle see milli-) + fáilte welcome.
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