'banshee' originates from Irish Gaelic, specifically the word 'bean sí', where 'bean' meant 'woman' and 'sí' meant 'fairy' or 'fairy mound'.

'banshee' changed from Irish 'bean sí' (literally 'woman of the sí') and entered English via Hiberno-English; the spelling stabilized as 'banshee' (with variant spellings such as 'banshie') in modern English.

Initially, it meant 'woman of the fairy mound' or simply 'fairy woman', but over time it evolved into its current meaning of 'a female spirit whose wailing foretells death'.