eisteddfod

American  

[ahy-steth-vod, ey-steth-] / aɪˈstɛð vɒd, eɪˈstɛð- /

noun

plural

eisteddfods, eisteddfodau

1. (in Wales) an annual festival, with competitions among poets and musicians.

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eisteddfod British  

/ aɪˈstɛðvɔd, aɪˈstɛdfəd /

noun

1. any of a number of annual festivals in Wales, esp the Royal National Eisteddfod, in which competitions are held in music, poetry, drama, and the fine arts

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Other Word Forms

• eisteddfodic adjective

Etymology

Origin of eisteddfod

1815–25; < Welsh: literally, session, equivalent to eistedd sitting + fod, variant (by lenition) of bod being

Example Sentences

She was so proud of her association with the eisteddfod that Elizabeth once again visited the festival - this time as Queen in 1960, making history by becoming the first reigning monarch to attend.

From BBC • Sep. 13, 2022

"But they will have an eisteddfod, hopefully, and, you know, people can come together," she told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement.

From BBC • Aug. 1, 2021

The musical reply came from the mighty Treorchy Male Choir, the winners of that year’s eisteddfod, and a group that traces its history back to 1883.

From The Guardian • Jul. 2, 2017

He has spoken in the past – surly/amused – of an "eisteddfod of hostility", as if his detractors were the excitable participants in a provincial arts festival.

From The Guardian • Aug. 15, 2014

In Cathays Park there is also a “gorsedd” or bardic circle of huge monoliths erected in connexion with the eisteddfod of 1899.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 3 "Capefigue" to "Carneades" by Various