noun
also ban·shie ˈban(ˌ)shē
( -s )
Etymology: Scottish Gaelic bean-sīth, from or akin to Old Irish ben sīde woman of fairyland, from ben woman + sīde, gen. of sīd fairy abode; akin to Greek gynē woman — more at quean , sidhe
: a female spirit in Gaelic folklore that warns a family of the approaching death of a member by her appearance or especially by wailing unseen under the windows of the house a night or two before the time of the death she foretells