Words Archives - Page 23 of 27

Welsh Word of the Day: Cwpan (cup)

In North Wales, the word for a cup, as in the kind of cup used for the nation’s favourite hot drink, is cwpan. Its plural form is cwpanau. You may also encounter the variation cwpa without the word-final n in South Wales. cwpan cup The word was borrowed from the Old English cuppan, which was …

Whenever I used to visit the hairdresser as a teenager, I was inevitably greeted with the comment Mae gen ti wallt mor drwchus! (You have such thick hair!) as soon as the stylist touched my hair. Recently, however, I’m receiving more comments about the encroaching grey strands than anything else! gwallt hair Soft mutationwallt Nasal …

There was once a time when we all relied on pencils for jotting down notes and lists. However, with the rise of smartphones and computers, pencils have shifted from being essential writing tools to more of a go-to for sketching and drawing. In Welsh, the word for this stalwart tool is pensel. pensel pencil Note: …

Every country has its own unique customs, and Wales is no exception. For instance, it used to be customary to gift a llwy garu (lovespoon) to your beloved as a symbol of affection. In modern Wales, a more common tradition is enjoying a paned (cup) of tea in the afternoon, often accompanied by a slice …

The Welsh word for ‘milk’ in Welsh is llefrith or llaeth. Generally speaking, llefrith is used more in North Wales whereas llaeth is used more in South Wales. However, saying that, there are also some regional variations, depending where you are in the country. llefrith llaeth For example, in Bala, North Wales, people generally use …

Cacen is the Welsh word for cake, and in the south Wales dialect, you can also use teisen. Additionally, teisen is heard in some parts of north Wales, particularly on Ynys Môn – the Isle of Anglesey. In certain areas of north Wales, especially in the west and parts of Conwy county, variations like cacan …

Hydref has two meanings in Welsh: the season of Autumn and the month of October. To differentiate between the two, a lowercase ‘h’ is used for the season, and an uppercase ‘H’ is used for the month. Hydref, referring to Autumn, is viewed as the season between summer and winter, spanning through September, October, and …

Today’s word of the day is lleuad (North Wales dialect), or lloer (South Wales dialect / literary form) which translates to ‘moon’ in English or ‘luna’ in Latin, the natural satellite that is approximately 238,000 miles away from earth.