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== Etymology ==

== Etymology ==

According to folklore, ''Samain'' is a variation of ''sam-fuin,'' meaning summer's end.<ref name="McBain">MacBain, Alexander, ''An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language'', Gairm Publications, Glasgow, 1982. "'''samhuinn''', Hallow-tide, Ir. [samhain], E.Ir. [samuin], [samain], [samfhuin]: usually regarded as for [*sam-fuin], "summer-end", from [sam], summer, and [fuin], end, sunset."</ref> This derivation is given in the medieval tale "The Sick-Bed of Cuchulain." But it is not accepted by modern scholars.

Samhain is derived from Old Irish ''Samain.'' According to folklore, ''Samain'' is a variation of ''sam-fuin,'' meaning summer's end.<ref name="McBain">MacBain, Alexander, ''An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language'', Gairm Publications, Glasgow, 1982. "'''samhuinn''', Hallow-tide, Ir. [samhain], E.Ir. [samuin], [samain], [samfhuin]: usually regarded as for [*sam-fuin], "summer-end", from [sam], summer, and [fuin], end, sunset."</ref> This derivation is given in the medieval tale "The Sick-Bed of Cuchulain." But it is not accepted by modern scholars.

Celtic scholar Whitley Stokes suggested that the word is derived from Proto-Celtic *''samani'', meaning "assembly."<ref>Stokes, Whitley (1907). "Irish etyma". ''Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung.'' 40: 245.</ref> Ranko Matasović gives the derivation as "assembly on the 1st of November."<ref>Matasović, Ranko, ''Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic'', Brill, 2009.</ref>

Celtic scholar Whitley Stokes suggested that the word is derived from Proto-Celtic *''samani'', meaning "assembly."<ref>Stokes, Whitley (1907). "Irish etyma". ''Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung.'' 40: 245.</ref> Ranko Matasović gives the derivation as "assembly on the 1st of November."<ref>Matasović, Ranko, ''Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic'', Brill, 2009.</ref>