A Welsh to English Dictionary in page format

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Gwefan Cymru-Catalonia
La Web de Gal·les i Catalunya
The Wales-Catalonia Website

Y Gwe-eiriadur
An Internet dictionary of Welsh for speakers of English

W - X

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1580e A | 2709e AR | 1039e B | 1735e BR | 1018e C | 1071e CE | 1675e CI | 1040e CR | 1075e CY | 1020e D | 1674e DI | 1072e E | 1077e F | 1021e G | 1042e GW | 1038e H | 1676e HY, I, J, K, | 1865e L | 1022e M | 1677e MI | 1047e N | 1600e O | 1023e P | 1073e PL | 1026e R | 1070e S | 1024e T | 1076e TR | 1025e U,V | 1731e W, X | 1586e Y, Z |

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W, w ‹uu› feminine noun
1) twenty-third letter of the twenty-six letter Roman alphabet
...1 a, 2 b, 3 c, 4 d 5 e, 6 f, 7 g, 8 h, 9 i, 10 j, 11 k, 12 l, 13 m, 14 n, 15 o, 16 p, 17 q, 18 r, 19 s, 20 t, 21 u, 22 v, 23 w, 24 x, 25 y, 26 z
2) twenty-eighth letter of the twenty-nine letter Welsh alphabet
...1 a, 2 b, 3 c, 4 ch, 5 d, 6 dd 7 e, 8 f, 9 ff, 10 g, 11 ng, 12 h, 13 i, 14 j, 15 l, 16 ll, 17 m, 18 n, 19 o, 20 p, 21 ph, 22 r, 23 rh, 24 s, 25 t, 26 th, 27 u, 28 w, 29 y

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w < British o (cognate words in Irish retain the o)

cwrw [ˡkuˑrʊ] < cwrwf [ˡkuˑrʊv] < *cwryf [ˡkuˑrəv] < *cwrf [kʊrv] < British *kurm < *korm

bwlch (= gap) < British *bulk < *bolk

llwm (= bare, barren) < *lum- < *lom- (Irish lomm = bare barren)

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1 w < wy in a final syllable
The reduction of a diphthong to a vowel in a final syllable is a common feature in colloquial Welsh. Examples of the reduction of wy ‹ui› to w ‹u› are:

..a/ annwl < annwyl (= dear)

..b/ *Arw This pronunciation of the river name Arwy seems no longer to be in use, but the English name of the river “Arrow” shows that at one time it would have been pronounced so.

..c/ Ebw < Ebwy (river name, south-east Wales. The colloquial form is found in the English name Ebbw Vale, a former steel town on this river, with erroneous spelling with double ‘b’ Ebbw (an erroneous nineteenth-century Welsh spelling, when the unnecessary doubling of consonants was in vogue – other examples are Cymmer instead of Cymer (= confluence), coppa for copa (= summit))

. The Welsh name is Glynebwy – in fact a translation of the English name, the original Welsh name being Pen-y-cae (standard form) / “Pen-cää” (local form) (spelt usually Pe-câ, Pen-cê)

..d/ Fanw < Myfanwy (woman’s name) (with the loss of the forst syllable, also a common feature of colloquial Welsh)

..e/ *Mynw This pronunciation of the river name Mynwy is no longer in use, but the English name of the river “Monnow” shows that at one time it would have been pronounced so

..f/ ofnadw < ofnadwy (= terrible)
Literary Welsh prefers the forms without reduction.

SUPPOSED REDUCTION OF wy > w

Sometimes there is hypercorrection – a word with an original final w is thought to be a reduced form, and wy replaces it – that is, a supposed change (*wy > w) is reversed (w > wy).

..a/ Maelgwn (name of a king of Gwynedd, died 547) > Maelgwyn. This mistaken ‘restoration’ of the diphthong would have seemed justified too because a name with an opaque meaning (mael = lord, -gwn has no apparent meaning) became meaningful (mael = lord, gwyn = white / white-haired / fair)

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w
1 w < wy in the tonic syllable
..a/ cwmpo (colloquial form in the South) < cwympo (= to fall)

..b/ hwdu (colloquial form) < chwydu (= to vomit)

..c/ gwbod (colloquial form) < gwybod (= to know)

See the entry -wy-

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w
1 w < yw in the tonic syllable

..a/ cywarch <KƏ-warkh> [ˡkəwarx] (= hemp)

> cẃarch <KUU-arkh> [ˡkuˑarx]

..b/ tywyll <TƏ-wilh> [ˡtəwɪɬ] (= dark)

> tẃyll <TUU-ilh> [ˡtuˑɪɬ]

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w < f

[w] < [v]

Merthyrmyfor > *Merthyrmywor > *Merthyrmowor > Merthyr-mowr > Merthyr-mawr

Ynɥsawdre (qv) Local form: Y Snawdra. A locality in the county of Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr
“ynys Hafdref”, “(the) meadow (of the place called) Hafdre”; hafdre (= summer homestead), with a later changer of [v] > [w] hawdre

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w > f

[w] > [v]

Ieuan > Iewan > Iefan > Efan / Ifan

ieuanc > iewanc > iefanc > ifanc

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The sequence w-w becomes y-y in certain derivative forms, generally plurals or verbs

cwmwl (= cloud), cymylau (=clouds), cymylu (= to get cloudy)

cwlwm (= knot), cylymau (= knots), cylymu (= to knot) (generally c’lymau, c’lymu)

cwmwd (= kúmmud, medieval administrative district), cymydau (= kúmmuds)

clwstwr (= cluster), clystyrau (= clusters), clystyru (= to cluster)

bwrlwm (= bubbling, bustle), byrlymau (= bubbles), byrlymu (= to effervesce, to bubble, to be bustling)

mwnwgl (obsolete) (= neck), mynyglau (= necks)
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w ‹-›
Final -w in modern Welsh was formerly consonantal until the early modern period; it has become a vowel in modern Welsh.

(delw 7370)

This was especially the case with monosyllables ending in -d, -dd, -n, -l, -r, -s, which are now disyllables

(1) The consonantal w reemerges in derivative forms
..1/ berw ‹bee-ru› (= to boil), berwais ‹ber-wes› (= I boiled)
..2/ cadw ‹kaa-du› (= to keep), cedwais ‹ked-wes› (= I kept)
..3/ delw ‹dee-lu› (= image), delwau ‹del-we› (= images)
..4/ galw ‹gaa-lu› (= to call), galwais ‹gal-wes› (= I called)
..5/ garw ‹gaa-ru› (= rough), geirwon ‹geir-won› (= rough, plural form)
..6/ llanw ‹lhaa-nu› (= to fill), llenwais ‹lhen-wes› (= I filled)
..7/ marw ‹maa-ru› (= dead), meirwon ‹meir-won› (= dead, plural form)
..8/ masw ‹ma-su› (= obscene, licentious), maswedd ‹mas-wedh› (= obscenity)
..9/ meddw ‹mee-dhu› (= drunk), meddwon ‹medh-won› (= drunks)
..10/ tarw ‹taa-ru› (= bull), tarwod ‹tar-wod› (= bulls; a variant plural form in the south-west instead of the usual teirw)

(2) in polysyllables, final -w tended to fall away after l, n, and especially r
..1/ Amanw (river name) now Aman ‹a-man›

..2/ arddelw (= to claim), now arddel ‹ar-dhel›
(delw = image)

..3/ buddelw (= post to which a cow is tied in a cowhouse), now buddel ‹bî-dhel›
(bu = cow) + soft mutation + (delw = stake, post; image, idol)

..4/ cannerw (= one hunded acres), found in field names as canner ‹ka-ner›
(erw = acre)

..5/ cefnderw (= male cousin), now cefnder, ce'nder ‹ken-der›
(derw = true)

..6/ chwecherw (= six acres), found in field names as chwecher ‹khwê-kher›
(and thus for other number + erw compounds in field names)
(erw = acre)

..7/ cyflwrw (= condition), now cyflwr ‹kəv-vlur›
(llwrw = path, form)

..8/ cyfnitherw (= female cousin), now cyfnither, c'nither ‹knî-ther›
(derw = true)

..9/ cyfyrderw (= second cousin), now cyfyrder ‹kə-vər-der›
(derw = true)

..10/ del (= nice) (North Wales) < del (= hard, obstinate) < delw (= statue)

..11/ diarddelw (= to repudiate, disown), now diarddel ‹di-ar-dhel›
(arddelw = to recognise, acknowledge, defend)

..12/ dylanw (= sea, wave), now Dylan (name of a sea god; nowadays commonly used as a first name, Dylan Thomas (English-language poet 1914-1953) being the first example of this)
(llanw = tide, sea)

..13/ gorllanw > gorllan (North Wales) high tide
(gor- = big, llanw = tide)

..14/ Hirael (place name, Bangor, North Wales)

The original name was hir erw (long acre, long field) (hir = long) + (erw = acre)

Hirerw > Hirer > Hirel > present-day Hirael

See the entry Hirael for more information

..15/ Ogfanw (river name) now Ogwan / Ogwen ‹o-gwan, o-gwen›

..16/ pumerw (= five acres), found in field names as pumer ‹pi-mer›
(erw = acre)

..17/ syberw (= neat, tidy), now syber
(from *syberf < Latin superbus)

..18/ teirerw (= three acres), found in field names as teirer ‹tei-rer›
(erw = acre)

In derivatives, the -w reemerges as a consonant
cefnderwedd, ce'nderwedd ‹ken-der-wedh› (= cousins)
dylanwad ‹də-lan-wad› (= influence)

(4) There is metathesis in:
gwarchadw > gwarchawd > gwarchod (= look after)
(based on cadw = to keep) gwar- (a form of the prefix gor-), cadw

(5) in polysyllables, between consonants, w is often elided, though it may still be present in the spelling
..1/ bedwlwyn ‹bed-luin› (= birch wood), in place names sometimes spelt bedlwyn
..2/ Derwfael ‹der-vail› (= man's name), now Derfael, Derfel (derw = true, mael = prince, leader)
..3/ derwgoed ‹der-goid› (= oak wood), in place names sometimes spelt dergoed
..4/ derwlwyn ‹der-luin› (= oak wood), in place names sometimes spelt derlwyn
..5/ meddwdod ‹medh-dod› (= drunkenness), sometimes spelt medd-dod

(4) There is the loss of a final "w" in a handful of words after the vowel ‹i› (“i”) or similar (“y”)

(a) After “i”
...............eli (= ointment) (historically eliw < Latin olivum = oil)
The southern colloquial form of heddiw (= today) > heddi, 'eddi
...............lleisi (= lye) (historically lleisiw)
...............tanlli (= flame-coloured) (historically tanlliw) (tân = fire, lliw = color / colour)

(b) After “y”:
...(i) dwy (an obsolete word = god) < dwyw. Modern Welsh duw (= god) is also from dwyw, by a different route
...(ii) ydyw = is> ydy > ydi > ’di

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w
Final w seems to give –ow in English in certain cases

(ap) Goronwy (patronymic) > G’ronwy > Gronw > English Gronow (surname)

Mynwy (river name) > Mynw? > Monw? > Monnow

Arwy (river name) > Arw? > Arrow

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1 w [u] < wy [ui] in a penultimate syllable

Hafodwynog (“summer place for lambs”) > Hafodwnog

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2 w [u] < y [wi] in a penultimate syllable

Llanynnog > Llanwnnog

gwndwn

A form of gyndwn (qv) (= layland, hay meadow) < gyndon

(gwyn = white) + soft mutation + (ton = meadow)

(The standard form gyndwn shows a change of final o > w)

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w in a final syllable from o

In the south-east there are a few examples of this

Talwg ‹ta -lug›
1 The change -og > -wg in the south-west is also to be seen in the stream name Nant Talwg in Y Barri (county of Bro Morgannwg). The stream name is taken from the name of a ford which was Rhy’ Talwg < Rhy’ Talog < Rhyd Halog (= dirty ford / muddy ford)
(There is devoicing of d before h, and the h is lost (d + h) + (t) )

Llangatwg < Llangadog (also with a change typical of the south-east - d as the initial consonant of the final syllable > t

Llansulwg < ? Llansulog (English name: Sellack) Village in the part of Gwent which became part of Herefordshire, England

And in other parts of Wales:

gwndwn

A form of gwyndwn (qv) (= layland, hay meadow) < gwyndon (gwyn = white) + soft mutation + (ton = meadow) (The standard form gwyndwn shows a change of final o > w)

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w
penult w replacing penult y

In southern Welsh, a w is sometimes present colloquially instead of standard y [ə] (compare the use of i instead of standard y [ə] ). This is especially so in the county of Penfro / Pembroke

bwlch, bylchau (gap, pass; gaps, passes) > (South-east) bwlch, bwlcha

Cymráeg > (South Wales) Cwmráag
byrlymu (to bubble, effervesce, gurgle), South: bwrlymu
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ẁ
1 the grave accent indicates a short vowel where in a long vowel environment
The ‘a’ in monosyllables in Welsh with final –b, -d, -g is long

mwg ‹muug› smoke
rhwd ‹hruud› rust

However English words taken into Welsh with the same pattern (monsyllables, final consonant g, b, d) but with a short vowel retain the short vowel in Welsh.

clẁb club
tẁb tub

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w
1 w < English o in the tonic syllable
..1/ cwt (= cot, cottage, hut, hutch) < cot (= cottage, small house)

..2/ bwrdd (= table) < *bordd < an Old English form of board (= table, board)

..3/ ffwrdd (in the expression i ffwrdd away, “to (the) road”) < ffordd (= road) < ford (= road in Old English, ford in modern English)

..4/ ffwrdo (= to afford, to have enough money to buy (something), < fforddio (= same meaning) < English afford (= same meaning)

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TONIC y [wə] > w [u]

gwndwn

A form of gyndwn (qv) (= layland, hay meadow) < gyndon (gwyn = white) + soft mutation + (ton = meadow) (The standard form gyndwn shows a change of final o > w)

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w in monosyllables

UNMARKED, BEFORE S, LONG

drws <DRUUS> [druːs] (= door)

Caer-sws <kair-SUUS> [kaɪrˡsuːs] village in Powys, mid-Wales

Y Rhws <ə HRUUS> [ə ˡhruːs] village in Bro Morgannwg, South Wales

If the vowel is short, in theory it should be marked as such with a grave accent

sẁs <SUS> [sʊs] (North Wales) a kiss

bẁs <BUS> [bʊs] bus

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w ‹u›
South Wales
1 ‘man’ - in conversation, a form of address used when speaking to both men and women;

Dewch miwn w! Dewch miwn! Come in, mun! Come in!

Bachan, siarada sens, w. Talk sense, mun! (bachan = man. boy, not translated into English)

Wir w! honestly, mun! (= what I’m telling you is true, even though you might not believe it)

Ia w Yes, mun

Grêt w! Great, mun

ETYMOLOGY: w < wr < gŵr (= man)
(1) wr is the soft-mutated form (initial g > zero); the soft mutation denotes a vocative form
(2) loss of the final r (an unusual occurrence in Welsh)

NOTE: The characteristic mun (= man) in the Cambrian English of the South is most likely a translation of Welsh wr or w
(’E do live down in Ponty, mun = he lives down in Pont-ty-pridd, man)

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wà ‹wa›
North Wales
1 (address) mate

ETYMOLOGY: wà < wàs ‹was› < was ‹waas›, vocative form (with soft mutation) of gwas ‹gwaas› = (older Welsh) boy; (modern Welsh) servant
NOTE: also wàs, wash i

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wachal ‹wâ -khal› verb
South-west Wales
1 avoid!, beware!, shun!
See: gochel = evitar

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wachla ‹wakh -la› verb
South-west Wales
1 avoid!, beware!, shun!
See: gochel = evitar

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wachlwch ‹wakh -lukh› verb
South-west Wales
1 avoid!, beware!, shun!
See: gochel = evitar

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wagen, wagenni ‹wa gen, wa GE ni› (feminine noun)
1 (railway) wagon = open railway truck
wagen wedi rhedeg yn rhydd a runaway wagon

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wagen fforch godi ‹wâ-gen forkh gô-di› feminine noun
PLURAL wagenni fforch godi ‹wa-ge-ni forkh gô-di›
1 fork-lift truck

ETYMOLOGY: "Waggon (of) fork (of) lifting" (wagen = waggon) + (fforch = fork) + soft mutation + (codi to lift, to raise)

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wagen wartheg, wagenni gwartheg ‹wa gen WAR theg, wa GE ni GWAR theg› (feminine noun)
1 (railway) cattle wagon

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wahân ‹wa- haan› masculine noun
1 soft-mutated form of gwahân = separated
ar wahän (·adverb/ separate, separately

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wahaner ‹wa- hâ -ner› verb
1 soft-mutated form of gwahaner = may it be divided
hyd oni wahaner ni gan angau till death do us part

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wahanfa ‹wa- han -va› feminine noun
1 soft-mutated form of gwahanfa = separation, divide

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Y Wahanfa Fawr ‹ə wa-han-va vaur›
1 the Great Divide, the Continental Divide – in North America, the watershed of the Rocky Mountains

ETYMOLOGY: (y = definite article) + soft mutation + (gwahanfa = place of division) + soft mutaiton + (mawr = big)

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waitsetler ‹wait-set-ler› masculine noun
PLURAL waitsetlers ‹wait-set-lers›
1 insulting name given to rich outsiders (generally English people) who move into the remaining Welsh parts of Wales and show contempt for the native population, in the manner of the English colonists who settled in Africa and ruled over the native populations

(Etholiadau Ewrop) Pwy ffwc yw'r holl bobl (yng Nghymru) sydd wedi bod yn pleidleisio i'r Cwd Moel Asgell Dde Wiliam Hague... ac i ffasgwyr yr UKIP yng Nghymru? Mae'n amlwg fod y White Settlers wedi codi o'u hogofau a bod na wrthryfel yn y gwynt (Colofn Lythyrau Dic Sais, Mawrth 15 Mehefin 1999)
(European Elections) Who the fuck are all those people (in Wales) who have voted for the right-wing bald scrotum William Hague... and for the fascists of the United Kingdom Independence Party? It is clear that the white settlers have emerged from their caves and that there is rebellion in the air

ETYMOLOGY: English white settler (‘white-skinned colonist”)

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wal ‹wal › feminine noun
PLURAL waliau ‹wal-ye› and welydd ‹we-lidh›
1 wall
wal cynnal pwysau load-bearing wall

wal frics brick wall
wal gerrig stone wall
wal geudod cavity wall
wal gydrannol party wall
wal gynnal retaining wall

wal lechi slate wall
wal rannu party wall; dividing wall
wal solet solid wall

2 torri (wal) i lawr knock down, flatten (a wall)
chwalu (wal) knock down, flatten, smash open (a wall)
bylchu (wal) knock down, flatten, smash open (a wall)
dymchwel (wal) knock down, flatten, smash open (a wall)

3 Y Wal Wynt, name for a bank of clouds which appears on the tops of the Carneddau mountain range in north-west Wales - a sign of bad weather (“the wind wall”)

4 glas bach y wal blue tit (“little blue bird of the wall”)

5 Mae gan welydd glustiau Walls have ears (“there-is with walls ears”)

6 mor ddall â'r wal as blind as a bat ("as blind as the wall")

bod mor ddall â’r wal be as blind as a mole (“to be as blind as the wall”)

7 wal wen white wall

See Wal-wen

ETYMOLOGY: English wall < Old English < Latin vallum (= palisade) < valla (= stake)

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waled, waledi <WAA-led, wa-LEE-di> [ˡwɑˑlɛd, gwaleˑdɪ] (feminine noun)
1 wallet
waled ledr, PLURAL waledi lledr leather wallet

llond waled o arian a wallet full of money

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Wales ‹WEILZ›

1 The English name for Cymru.

Both the English and the Welsh names for the country are in fact ethnonyms (an ethnonym is a name given to an ethnic group).

Wales is an ethnonym which is an exonym (the name is not used by the ethnic group itself). Wales is from an Old English form meaning “strangers”, i.e. “the people who are different to us”, and apparently was used when referring to peoples of the Roman Empire.

Cymru is a geonym (name which denotes a place) which was created by respelling an autonym (the name which the ethnic group uses for itself). The autonym for the people of British descent is Cymry (“compatriots”, “people of the same land”).

Since in modern Welsh u and y have the same pronunciation, at least in modern Welsh, it was found convenient to indicate the country using Cymru and the people retaining the spelling Cymry.

The names are used differently - Cymru is not usually used with the definite article, though in some instances it can be. Since it is a feminine noun, as are the names of most countries in Welsh, there is soft mutation after the definite article - Y Gymru sydd ohoni present-day Wales (“the Wales which-is of-it”).

Cymry is generally used with the definite article, but there is no soft mutation

Y Cymry - the Welshmen, the Welsh people, the Welsh.

The statement above that “Wales is an ethnonym which is an exonym (the name is not used by the ethnic group itself)” needs to be qualified. Because a very recent phenomenon in the history of Wales is that as a result of long-standing English interference in Welsh affairs the majority of Welsh people cannot at the present time speak their own language, there is the singular situation that only a minority of the population speak Welsh and so use the self-designation to describe themselves, whereas the majority, English-speaking, use the term that their foreign neighbours have applied to them to describe themselves - the “Welsh”.

2 Wales a village in Wisconsin

(delw 7521) (dydd Mercher, 3 Medi 2008) Wales, Wisconsin

(delw 7519) (dydd Mercher, 3 Medi 2008) Yr hen orsaf / the old railroad depot

(delw 7520) (dydd Mercher, 3 Medi 2008)

(The wording of an information panel in the village of Wales, Wisconsin.)

Wales. Attracted by rolling hills so reminiscent of their native land, John Hughes and his family became the first Welsh settlers to the area in 1840. Within two years, the flow of immigrants had emlarged the Welsh population to 100. The area was dotted with farm names such as Caemadoc, Bronyberllan and Bryn Mawr.

The Welsh language, culture and religion were preserved by the Calvinistic Methodist churches which served as social, educational and spiritual centers. Welsh poetry and song could be heard at Cyfarod [sic. This should read Cyfarfod] Llenyddols (literary meetings) and Gymanfa Ganus [sic. This should read Cymanfa Ganus] (songfests) held at the churches. Congregations included Jerusalem, Bethesda, Tabernacle, and Zion, (the first to organize in 1842).

On February 1, 1882, two trains of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway made the first stops at the recently built depot, known as ‘The Wales Staion’. By the end of the same year, seven homes, a general store, and a post office had been built on the surrounding land that formerly belonged to Mrs. Hugh Elias. The Village of Wales was born. It was the offspring of a hearty, 40 year old Welsh community.

In Wales today, the heart of the Welsh community still beats strongly, outliving the railroad that brought it life over a century ago.

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Wallt Eurin ‹walht ei-rin›
1 epithet, occurs in the name Gwri Wallt Eurin (“Gwri (of the) golden hair”), the original name of Pryderi fab Pwyll in the Mabonogi (circa 1100). The name is usually spelt as Gwri Wallt Eiryn, a variant spelling.

NOTE: (gwallt = hair) + (eurin = golden; made of gold)

In older Welsh epithets after both male and female names had soft mutation of the initial consonant.

Thus *Gwri Gwallt Eurin > *Gwri Wallt Eurin

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walrws ‹wal-rws› masculine noun
PLURAL walrysod ‹wal- rə-sod›
1 walrus Odobenus nosmarus

ETYMOLOGY: English walrus ‹wólrəs› < (in the 1600s) Dutch walrus < Scandinavian

Cf Old Norse hross-hvalr a kind of whale (“horse-whale”). Old English had horshwæl (“horse-whale”)

Modern Scandinavian languages have the elements reversed: Norwegian hvalros, (“whale-horse”) (hval = whale) + (ros = horse), and Danish valros, Swedish vallross, Icelandic hrosshvalr

Also: German Walross

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Y Wal-wen ‹wal-WEN›

1 village SJ2076 in the county of Y Fflint, south-east of Y Maes-glas
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/41443 map

2 village SJ1171 in the county of Y Fflint, east of Licswm
http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=334277 map

ETYMOLOGY: y wal wen “the white wall”

(y = definite article) + soft mutation + (wal = wall) + soft mtuation + (gwen, feminine form of gwyn = white)

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wan ‹wan› adjective
1 Soft mutated form (g > ZERO) of gwan = weak
pont wan weak bridge, unsound bridge
ar awr wan in a moment of weakness, in a moment of madness
(there is soft mutation of the first consonant of an adjective which follows a feminine noun)

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wanc ‹ wangk › f
PLURAL wanciau ‹ wangk-ye ›
1 a wank, an act of masturbation

ETYMOLOGY: English wank

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wancio ‹ wangk -yo› (verb)
1 (verb with an object) wank (somebody)
2 (verb without an object) wank

ETYMOLOGY: (wanc = a wank) + (-io suffix for forming verbs)

:_______________________________.

wanciwr ‹ wangk -yur› (m)
PLURAL wancwyr ‹ wangk-wir ›
1 wanker

ETYMOLOGY: (wanc- stem of wancio wank, masturbate) + (-i-wr suffix = man)

:_______________________________.

waren ‹wa -ren› feminine noun
1 y waren = the rabbit warren; soft-mutated form of gwaren (qv) (= rabbit warren)

Ysguborywaren place in Sant-y-brid (county of Bro Morgannwg)
(“(the) barn (of) the warren”)

NOTE: This is sometimes seen with double ‘r’ – gwarren / warren – but this is a spelling considered less correct than gwaren / waren

:_______________________________.

warren ‹wa -ren› feminine noun
1 soft-mutated form of gwarren (= rabbit warren).
This spelling with double ‘r’ is considered to be less correct than gwaren / waren.
yn y warren (= in the warren) (but more correctly yn y waren)

:_______________________________.

was ‹waas›
1 (form of address), mate

2 to a dog, horse
Dere, was Here, boy (“come, lad”)

3 washi ‹ waa shi ›
(North Wales) < fy ngwas i = my lad

da iawn, washi very good, my lad

ETYMOLOGY: was < ngwas i < fy ngwas i ‹və ngwaas› = my lad, my young man
gwas = (older Welsh) boy; (modern Welsh) servant

NOTE: In the North, with a short vowel: was ‹waas› > wàs ‹was›
Also :wà, wasi, washi

:_______________________________.

washi ‹ waa shi ›
1 (North Wales) < fy ngwas i = my lad
Da iawn, washi Very good, my lad

:_______________________________.

wasi ‹wa -si›
1 (vocative form) mate, young man
Gad iddo, wasi Drop the subject, mate

ETYMOLOGY: wasi ‹wa-si› < ngwas i < fy ngwas i ‹və ngwaas i› = my young man

(fy = el meu) + nasal mutation + (gwas = young man, servant) + (i = (of) me)

:_______________________________.

wasier, wasieri ‹WA sher, wa SHE ri› (feminine noun)
1 washer (metal disc with a hole)

:_______________________________.

Watcyn ‹WAT kin› (masculine noun)
1 name, 2 surname

:_______________________________.

watsh, watshus ‹WACH, WA chis› (feminine noun)
1 watch, wristwatch

:_______________________________.

waun ‹wain› feminine noun
1 soft-mutated form of gwaun (= mountain pasture, moorfield; wet high ground; wet low ground, natural pasture)
y waun = the moor, moorfield, meadow

Y Waun-gron (“the round meadow”) district in western Caer-dydd

2 In some place names, it is used as if it were the radical form. ‘Gwaun’ would be expected in such structures:

(1) Waunarlwydd (= “Gwaunarlwydd”) (= gwaun yr arglwydd – the moor of the lord) (county of Abertawe)

(2) Waunfelin (= “Gwaunfelin”) (county of Torfaen) (gwaun y felin – the moor of the mill)

(3) Waunleision (= “Gwaunleision”) (“(the) moor (of) Lleision”)

Name of a street in the village of Gwaunleision by Gwauncaegurwen (county of Castell-nedd ac Aberafan).

(Waunleision would be the local form, with gwaun (= meadow) regarded as a radical form; Gwaunleision is the standard form with the correct radical form gwaun)

(4) Waun Meisgyn (= “Gwaun Meisgyn”), near Meisgyn ST0498 (county of Rhondda-Cynon-Taf) (= the moor of Meisgyn). The English call it ‘Miskin Meadow’.

(5) Waun Treoda (= “Gwaun Treoda”) (Caer-dydd) (= the moorfield of Treoda farm) (the district is officially Gwauntreoda, a more standard form; there is a street here Heol Wauntreoda)

(6) Waunybwla Place in Llantarnam (“moorfield of the bull”)

John Edmunds, Waynabulla in Lanvrechva 27 May 1813 2mths

(Mentioned in Llantarnam Burials 1813-74) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~monfamilies/llantarnbur1813-74.htm

(7) Waun y Gilfach “(the) pasture (of) the nook / secluded spot” (county of Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) SS8488

NOTE: Pronunciation:

(1) In the North, gweun / weun (with ‹ê› and northern ‘u’),

(2) In southern Welsh ‹i› has replaced the original ‘u’; hence in in the south-east gwain / wain south-west

(3) south-western Welsh gweun > gwein / wein

:_______________________________.

Y Waun ‹ə wain› feminine noun
1 short form of names with gwaun as a first element eg
...(1) Gwauncaegurwen SN7011 (county of Castell-nedd ac Aberafan)
...(2) Waun-fawr (Meirionnydd)

2 name of various localities (some of which may be short forms of longer names no longer in use)

...(1) SH9962 locality 1km al nord-oest de Nantglyn (county of Dinbych)

...(2) SJ9962 locality 6km north-east of Dinbych (county of Dinbych)

...(3) SJ1065 locality 6km east of Dinbych (county of Dinbych)

...(4) SJ1065 locality 1km north-east of Comins-coch (county of Powys)

...(5) SJ1065 locality 1km east of Llansanffráid ym Mechain (county of Powys)

...(6) SJ2937 locality in the county of Wrecsam. Also: Castell-y-waun
English name: Chirk

Erddigan Caer Waun caer y Waun (“(the) castle (of) Y Waun”)
A folk tune in “The Cambrian Quarterly Magazine and Celtic Repertory” (1830). The English translation of the title is given as “The Minstrelsy of Chirk Castle”.

...(7) locality in Caer-dydd; the name Y Waun in this case is used erroneously in Welsh, since this is in fact a translation of the English name 'the Heath', although there are native names for this area of Caer-dydd (latterly – in the last twenty years or so, 1990 onwards, the native names seem to have been recovered)

Formerly this area was ‘The Great Heath', of which the native name was Y Mynydd Bychan (the little! heath), and the correct Welsh name for this part of the city is Y Mynyddbychan (spelt as one word as it is a settlement name)

ETYMOLOGY: (y = definite article) + soft mutation + (gwaun = wet land)

NOTE: Some of these names are written Waen in English; an erroneous nineteenth-century Welsh misspelling which there is no reason to perpetuate

:_______________________________.

Waunarlwydd <wain-AR-luidh> [waɪnˡarlʊɪð] (feminine noun)
1 village in the south-east

ETYMOLOGY: waun yr arglwydd "(the) moorland (of) the lord"
:_______________________________.

Y Waun Gron <ə wain GRON> [ə ˡwaɪn ˡgrɔn]
1 mountain in Gwynedd

2 field name in Caer-dydd. According to John Hobson Mathews (Mab Cernyw) in 'Cardiff Records' (1889-1911):
“WAUN-GRON, Y (the round meadow) A piece of waste land, measuring 2a. 2r. 7p., (2 acres, 2 rods, 7 perches) in the manor of Llandaff”

The name survives in Caer-dydd as a district name Waun-gron (see next entry)

ETYMOLOGY: y waun gron the round (moorland) field
(y = definite article) + soft mutation + (gwaun = moorland field) + soft mutation + (cron, feminine form of crwn = round)

NOTE: Topographic names which are not habitative names (house, farm, village, town) are written with the elements separate. Hence Waun Gron. Compare Waun-gron below

:_______________________________.

Y Waun-gron <ə wain GRON> [ə ˡwaɪn ˡgrɔn]

1 SS 6596 locality in Abertawe, above Pen-gelli-ddrain, and 1km south of Pontarddulais

2 SN 5902 locality in 1km south of Pontarddulais (county of Castell-nedd ac Aberafan)

3 a district and railway station in the west of Caer-dydd

ETYMOLOGY: Habitative names are written as a single word – Waun-gron.
See the previous entry Waun Gron

:_______________________________.

Y Waun-lon <ə wain LON> [ə ˡwaɪn ˡlɔn]
1 Waun-lon street name in Y Drenewydd yn Notais (county of Bro Morgannwg) (“happy meadow”) (spelt incorrectly as “Waunlon”)

ETYMOLOGY: y waun lon < (y definite article) + soft mutation + (gwaun = meadow on high ground) + soft mutation + (llon = happy)

:_______________________________.

Y Waun Lwyd <ə wain LUID> [ə ˡwaɪn ˡlʊɪd] ə

1 Waun-lwyd the grey moorland field, farm 4km south of Crymych SN1833 (county of Penfro)

2 In street names
“Waun Lwyd Terrace” Nant-y-moel (county of Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr)
In Welsh this would be simply Waun-lwyd, or “Rhestr y Waun Lwyd

ETYMOLOGY: y waun lwyd “the grey moorland field”
(y definite article) + soft mutation + (gwaun = meadow on high ground) + soft mutation + (llwyd = grey)

:_______________________________.

Waun y Bala <wain ə BAA-la> [ˡwaɪn ə ˡbɑˑla]
1 moorland near Y Bala

Yr ardal gyntaf y deuir iddi wrth fyned o’r Bala i Ffestinog neu Drawsfynydd ar hyd yr hen ffordd ydyw cymydogaeth Talybont. Trwy gymeryd y ffordd newydd yr ydym yn cerdded y terfyn rhyngddi ag ardal Cwmtirmynach, ond ä yr hen ffordd trwy ganol yr ardal hon. Dyma ran isaf Waen y Bala. Gelwir y rhan uchaf o’r Waen hon, o afon Aberbleddyn i odre mynydd Nodol yr Arenig, yn ardal Llidiardau, a gelwir y rhan isaf yn ardal Talybont. Hanes Methodistiaeth Dwyrain Meirionnydd / Y Parch William Williams, Glyndyfrdwy, 1902

The first area you come to when going from Y Bala to Ffestinog or Trawsfynydd along the old road is the neighbourhood of Tal-y-bont. By taking the new road we are walking the boundary between it and the area of Cwmtirmynach, but the old road goes through the middle of this district. This is the lower part of Waun y Bala (“(the) moor (of) y Bala”). The upper part of this moor, from the Aberbleddyn river to the bottom of Nodol mountain in the Arenig, is called the Llidiardau area, and the bottom part the Tal-y-bont area..

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/572398 Llidiardau SH8738

:_______________________________.

Wcreineg ‹u KREI neg› (feminine noun, adjective)
1 Ukrainian

:_______________________________.

Weblai ‹we -blai›
1 (SO4051) (English name: Weobley) village in England near the Welsh border 16km north-west of the English city of Hereford (Henffordd in Welsh), and 8km south-east of the English village of Kington (Ceintun in Welsh)

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/89509 pentre Weblai / Weobley village

(“The Geograph British Isles project aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland…”)

ETYMOLOGY: From the English name. In the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Wibelai'. Apparently “Wibba’s clearing / glade”, from an Old English personal name Wibba and leah, a glade or clearing in a wood.

:_______________________________.

wech ‹ weekh › m
1 hi + bod wedi wech ar (rywun) have had one's chips, be finished, be all over (for somebody)

Mae hi wedi wech arno fe, His number is up, He's doomed, He’s done for; (literally: ‹the› six o’¡ clock ‹hooter› has sounded on him / to his disadvantage”). A miner arriving at work afer six o’c clock in the morning would not be allowed into the mine, and would have lost work for that day

ETYMOLOGY: south-eastern form of chwech = six

In the south initial chw- > hw-. In the south-east it is further reduced to h-

:_______________________________.

wedi ‹WEE di› (preposition)
1 after

:_______________________________.

wedyn ‹WEE din› (adverb)
1 afterwards

2 byth wedyn never again, ever again

Weles i moni byth wedyn I never saw her again

:_______________________________.

weirglodd <WEIR-glodh> [ˡwəɪrglɔð] (f)
1 soft-mutated form of gweirglodd (qv) (= hay meadow)
:_______________________________.

Y Weirglodd-ddu ‹ə WEIR glodh DHII›
1 SH8440 farm by Llyn Celyn, Gwynedd

ETYMOLOGY: “the black hay meadow” (y definite article = the) + soft mutation + (gweirglodd = hay meadow) + soft mutation + (du = black)

:_______________________________.

weirlod <WEIR-lod> [ˡwəɪrlɔd] (f)
1 (South Wales) soft-mutated form of gweirlod, a variant form of gweirglodd (qv) (= hay meadow)

:_______________________________.

weithian ‹WEITH yan›
1 (literary) now

Deuteronium 5:25 Weithian gan hynny paham y byddwn feirw? oblegid y tân mawr hwn a’n difa ni: canys os nyni a chwanegwn glywed llais yr ARGLWYDD ein Duw mwyach, marw a wnawn.

ETYMOLOGY: weithian < weithion < y weithon < y weith hon (= this time)
(in modern Welsh, these elements would be y waith hon)

..a/ (gweith, older form of gwaith = occasion) + soft mutation + (hon, feminine form of hwn = this) > gwaith hon

..b/ (y = definite article) + soft mutation + (gweith hon) > y weith hon

cf rwan (= now) < yr awran < yr awron < yr awr hon (= this hour)

:_______________________________.

weithiau ‹WEITH-yai, -ye› (adverb)
1 sometimes
Weithiau fel hyn, weithiau fel arall Sometimes like this, and sometimes differently

ETYMOLOGY: gweithiau (= occasions), plural form of gwaith (= occasion)
The soft mutation gweithiau > weithiau indicates its use as an adverb

:_______________________________.

wej ‹wej› feminine noun
PLURAL wejys ‹we –jis›
1 wedge
Also wejen with the (diminutive) suffix -en

ETYMOLOGY: English wedge < Old English wecg
Related to Norwegian vegg (= wall)

:_______________________________.

wejen ‹we -jen› feminine noun
PLURAL wejys, wejens ‹we –jis, we-jens›
1 (South Wales) girlfriend; fiancée
Oos da fe wejen? Has he got a girlfriend?

ETYMOLOGY: wejen < *we’tshen < *wentshen (wentsh = English wench = girl ) + (-en suffix added to a noun taken from another language to Cymricise it) English wench is from Old English wencel (= child), related to Old English wancol (= weak)

NOTE: Also wajen / wajys

:_______________________________.

wejen ‹we jen› feminine noun
PLURAL wejys ‹we –jis›
1 wedge

ETYMOLOGY: (wej = wedge) + (-en diminutive suffix added to nouns; also added to a noun taken from another language to Cymricise it)

:_______________________________.

wel ‹WEL› (adverb)
1 well

Wel, shwd mae e? Well, how is he?

ETYMOLOGY: English well
:_______________________________.

wen ‹wen› adjective
1 Soft mutated form (g > ZERO) of gwen, feminine form of gwyn (= white)

Common in place names

(In these names there is soft mutation of the first consonant of an adjective which follows a feminine noun gwen > wen)

……………………..
Yr Afon-wen <AA-von WEN> [ˡɑˑvɔn ˡwɛn]
SJ1371 Village in the county of Y Fflint, south-east of Caerwys

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/996798 map

“(the) white river”; (afon = river) + soft mtuation + (gwen, feminine form of gwyn = white)

……………………..

Y Bont Wen the white bridge
……………………..

Dôl Wen white meadow

……………………..

:_______________________________.

-wen ‹wen›
suffix found in given names for females

1 used to feminise male names (the meaning white / pure / beautiful / holy / blessed is possibly incidental in these names)

Aeronwen

Brân (= raven) > Branwen

Dilwen - female equivalent of Dilwyn, apparently the first syllable of dilys (= genuine, sincere) + wyn used in forming male names; or possibly dil- from the female name Dilys (= genuine, sincere) + -wen

Eirion (dictionary word; = brightness) > Eirionwen

Eirwen

Glynwen - probably from Glyn, a pet form or short form of Glyndwr, which also occurs as an independent name

Lilwen - possibly from lili (= lily)

Lynwen - possibly from Lyn, a pet form of Llywelyn, which also occurs as an independent name

Some female names however are maybe taken from place names of which wen (= white) forms a part:
Moelwen, possibly from Y Foel Wen SH0933 “the white (bare) hilltop” in the Berwyn mountain range, west of Llangollen (county of Dinbych) (but more likely to be the feminne form of Moelwyn ‘white bare summit’, a place name used as a male forename)

2 in names equivalent to male names, or masculine adjectives, in -wyn

adjective bronwyn (white-breasted) > female name Bronwen (though this may be modelled on Branwen)

adjective ceinwyn (splendid + white, splendidly white; splendid + beautiful) > female name Ceinwen

adjective delwyn (fair + white, splendid and fair) > male name Delwyn > female name Delwen

adjective eirwyn (as white as snow, snow-white) > male name Eirwyn > female name Eirwen

adjective eurwyn (as splendid as gold) > male name Eurwyn > female name Eurwen

adjective purwyn (pure + white; brilliant white) > female name Purwen (only use of this name found via Google is for a thoroughbred mare)

adjective tegwyn (faire + white; splendid and fair) > male name Tegwyn > female name Tegwen

3 added to an existing female name

Mair (= Mary), Meirwen (= holy Mary)

4 added to nouns of feminine or masculine gender

(the meaning white / pure / beautiful / holy / blessed is possibly incidental in these names)

blodeuyn, blodyn (m) (= flor) > blod- > Blodwen

coron (f) (= crown) > Coronwen

haf (m) = summer > Hafwen

oen (m) (= lamb) > Oenwen

ETYMOLOGY: (Eirion = man’s name) + (-wen suffix for forming female names < gwen, feminine form of gwyn = white

:_______________________________.

Wenfro ‹WEN-vro› [ˡwɛnvrɔ]
1 (“fair land, paradise”)
Street name in Abergele (county of Conwy)

ETYMOLOGY: “y wenfro” (y definite article) + soft mutation + (gwenfro = fair land, paradise)
(In place names, the definite article is often dropped, though the mutation it may have triggered remains)

:_______________________________.

wenog ‹WEE-nog› [ˡweˑnɔg]
1 See: wynog abundant in lambs
(Hafodwenog < Hafodwynog = summer house abundant in lambs)

:_______________________________.

werdd <WERDH> [wɛrð] adjective
1 soft-mutated form of gwerdd, feminine form of gwyrdd = green
yr Ynys Werdd Ireland (“the green island”)
helygen werdd (Salix x rubra) green-leaved willow

:_______________________________.

werddlas <WERDH-las> [ˡwɛrðlas] adjective
1 soft-mutated form of gwerddlas, feminine form of gwyrddlas = green; blue-green, a colour between green and blue in the spectrum
yr Ynys Werdd Ireland (“the green island”)

2 helygen werddlas PLURAL helyg gwyrddleision
(Salix alba var. caerulea) cricket-bat willow
See: helygen las

:_______________________________.

(1) Y Werddon <ə WER-dhon> [ə ˡwɛrðɔn] feminine noun
1 SJ3350 place name, Wrecsam (English name: Island Green)

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/605649 y ganolfan siopa / the shopping centre

(“The Geograph British Isles project aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland…”)

2 Daeth amser i ffarwelio

Ag annwyl wlad y Cymro

Gan sefyll ar hen dir y werddon fras

Folk song, Rownd yr Horn (= Round the Horn)
The time came to bid farewell

To the dear land of the Welshman

Standing on the old land of the lush green place

ETYMOLOGY: “the green place”; (y = definite article) + soft mutation + (gwerddon = green place).

ETYMOLOGY: There are two possible explanations for the origin of gwerddon:

..a/ (gwerdd, feminine form of gwyrdd = green) + (-on, suffix);

..b/ otherwise from Iwerddon (colloquially sometimes Y Werddon) (= Ireland)
Iwerddon > y werddon, from which an unmutated form gwerddon has been supposed. Island is also known as Yr Ynys Werdd (the green island, the emerald isle), though the element “werdd” in Iwerddon is unconnected with gwerdd (= green).

:_______________________________.

(2) Y Werddon <ə WER-dhon> [ə ˡwɛrðɔn] feminine noun
1 a colloquial form of the name Iwerddon (= Ireland)

ETYMOLOGY: Iwerddon > Y Werddon – the vowel in the first syllable becomes obscure, and is taken to be the definite article.

Similar examples are:
..a/ Abermo (place name) > Y Bermo,
..b/ Aberffro (place name) > Y Berffo

See the entry “y as a false definite article”

:_______________________________.

Y Werfa <ə WER-va> [ə ˡwɛrva] feminine noun
(1) Y Werfa name of a mansion in Aber-nant (Abernantywenallt), Aber-dâr (English name: Werfa House), and of a former colliery here

Twyn y Werfa hill by Y Werfa (“(the) hill (of) Y Werfa”)

(2) Y Werfa place on the south side of the road between Cwm-parc (county of Rhondda Cynon Taf) and Blaengwynfi (county of Castell-nedd ac Aberafan), near Bwlch yr Afan and Twyn Crug yr Afan

(3) Maesywerfa farm east of Bryncethin, county of Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr (“(the) field (of) the shelter”)

ETYMOLOGY: (y = definite article) + soft mutation + (gwerfa = sheltered place for cattle from the sun);

gwerfa < göoerfa (go = intensifying prefix) + (oerfa = cool place)
(oer = cold, cool; -fa suffix = place)

:_______________________________.

werglodd <WER-glodh> [ˡwɛrglɔð] (f)
1 (North Wales) soft-mutated form of gwerglodd, a variant form of gweirglodd (qv) (= hay meadow)

Werglodd y Maes (1776) a messuage and lands called Werglodd y mais in the Parish of Kerry the co. of Montgomery
Calendar of Deeds and Documents Volume 1, The Coleman Deeds, Francis Green, 1921, p. 202

:_______________________________.

werlod <WER-lod> [ˡwɛrlɔd] (f)
1 (South Wales) soft-mutated form of gwerlod, a variant form of gweirglodd (qv) (= hay meadow)

:_______________________________.

wermod <WER-mod> [ˡwɛrmɔd]
1 wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)

Llwynywermod SN7733 Locality south of Llanymddyfri, county of Caerfyrddin (sometimes seen as Llwynywormwood, a misspelling current in the nineteenth century - a curious blend of Welsh and modern English. It seems that the name was Llwynywermwd but since it was known that wermwd was a form of English wormwood, the English spelling was used)

The local form is Llwynywermwd; in the standard form of the name standard wermod takes the place of wermwd

llwyn y wermod “(the) bush (of) the wormood, wormwood bush” or “(the) grove (of) the wormwood, wormwood grove”.
Sometimes llwyn is bush (the place name Llwyncelyn is sometimes seen translated into English as “Hollybush”; Llwyn-onn as “Ash Grove”)

NOTE: Also wermwd, wermwod, gwermod, gwermwd, wrmwd, (south-east) wermwnt, (south-east - Mynwy) wermont

ETYMOLOGY: Middle English wermod (= wormwood) < Old English wermōd < Germanic *wermdaz. Some forms show the influence of the Middle English form wormwode, modern English wormwood.

The element worm- shows an alteration reflecting the traditional use of the plant as a cure for intestinal worms; and the second element has been made sense of by altering it into “wood”, though the original name makes no reference either to worms or to wood.

German has Wermut (= wormwood).

:_______________________________.

wermwd <WER-mud> [ˡwɛrmʊd]
1 wormwood
See wermod

:_______________________________.

wern <WERN> [wɛrn]
1 soft mutated form of gwern (= alder wood, alder grove; alder swamp; meadow; moor)
y wern the alder swamp

2 Used in some place names as a radical from instead of gwern

Street name Wernywylan (qv) (“Wern y Wylan”) (“(the) moor (of) the seagull”)

(the expected form would be gwern yr wylan)
..a/ Llandudno, county of Conwy
..b/ Cricieth, county of Gwynedd
..c/ Cwrt Wernywylan Llanddona, Ynys Môn (“Wern y Wylan Court”)

NOTE: Other words with the soft-mutated form used as the radical:

ban / fan (= peak), e.g. Fan y Big

bron / fron (= round hill) e.g. Fron-y-gog

celli / gelli (= grove) e.g. Gelli-gaer

craig / graig (= rock) e.g. Graig y Saeson

glan / lan (= river bank; slope, hillside, hill) e.g. Lan-y-dŵr

gwaun / waun (= upland meadow; meadow, moor), e.g. Waunyfedwen

:_______________________________.

Wernas-deg ‹WER-nas DEEG› [ˡwɛrnas ˡdeˑeˑg]
1 locality in Beddgelert (county of Gwynedd)

ETYMOLOGY: y wernas deg < y wernos deg (“fair small alders”)
There are other examples in Welsh of the change o > a in final syllables - ofn > ofon > ofan (= fear). See a
(y = definite article) + soft mutation + ( gwernos = small alders ) + soft mutation + ( teg = fair, beautiful)

:_______________________________.

Y Wern-ddofn <ə WERN DHOO-von> [ə ˡwɛrn ˡðoˑvɔn]
1 name of a farm 4km north-east of Crymych (county of Penfro)

ETYMOLOGY: (“(the) deep alder-marsh”)
(y = the) + soft mutation + (gwern = alder-marsh) + soft mutation + (dofn, feminine form of dwfn = deep)

NOTE: Topographic names which are habitative names (house, farm, village, town) are written as a single word. If the final syllable is an accented monosyllabic word it is preceded by a hyphen. (Dwfn / dofn in South Wales has two syllables, but historically, and in standard Welsh and in the spoken Welsh of the north is a monosyllable)

:_______________________________.

Y Wernolau ‹ə wern-OO-lai, -e› [ə wɛrn ˡoˑlaɪ, -ɛ]

1 hamlet SH6942 west of Pen-clawdd (Abertawe)

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/558223 map

ETYMOLOGY: "the light alder swamp, the sunlit alder-swamp” (y = definite article) + soft mutation + (gwern = alder swamp) + soft mutation + (golau = light, sunlit)

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Y Wernos ‹ə WER-nos› [ə ˡwɛrnɔs]
1 street names
..a/ locality near Crucadarn in the district of Brycheiniog (county of Powys)
..b/ locality near Rhydaman (county of Caerfyrddin)

ETYMOLOGY: (y = definite article) + soft mutation + ( gwernos = small alders )

:_______________________________.

Y Wernydd ‹ə WER-nidh› [ə ˡwɛrnɪð]
1 various place names (with soft mutation after the definite article)

ETYMOLOGY: “the alder swamps” (y = definite article) + soft mutation + ( gwernydd, plural of gwern = alder swamp)

:_______________________________.

Y Werydd ‹ə WEE-ridh› [ə ˡweˑrɪð]
1 Atlantic Ocean

..a/ Talywerydd (“Tal-y-werydd”) house name in Aber-arth (county of Ceredigion) (in the list of members in “The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion” 1961 / Part 1)
(“(the) end (of) the Atlantic”, place facing the Atlantic)
tâl y werydd (tâl = end; front) + (y = definite article) + (Werydd = Atlantic Ocean)

2 Y Werydd name of a street in Aber-arth (county of Ceredigion)

ETYMOLOGY: Y Werydd is a reduced form of Iwerydd (=Atlantic Ocean) (the vowel of the pretonic syllable has been reduced to an obscure vowel, which was then taken to be the definite article)

Tremywerydd house name “(the) view (of) the Atlantic”, “Atlantic view”
Awelywerydd house name “(the) breeze (of) the Atlantic”, “Atlantic breeze”

:_______________________________.

Wernywylan <WERN ə WII-lan> [ˡwɛrn ə ˡwiˑlan]

1 Street name
..a/ Llandudno, county of Conwy
..b/ Cricieth, county of Gwynedd

ETYMOLOGY: wern y wylan “(the) alder swamp (of) the seagull”
(wern = alder swamp) + (y = definite article) + soft mutation + ( gwylan = seagull)

Standard Welsh would be Gwernyrwylan gwern yr wylan
..a/ Here the soft-mutated form wern is used as if it were the radical form. This is a frequent occurrence with some words (feminine gender, generally monosyllables - e.g. gwaun / waun = moorland, craig / graig = rock, cliff, crag, etc)

..b/ the diphthong wy [ui] has become a consonant with a following vowel wy [wi], which has occurred colloquially in the case of other words beginning with gwy-

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weunog ‹WEI-nog› [ˡwəɪnɔg]
1 See: wynog abundant in lambs
(Hafodweunog < Hafodwynog summer house abundant in lambs)

:_______________________________.

wfft <UFT> [ʊft]
1 exclamation of rejection, dissatisfaction
gweiddi wfft i protest against (“shout ‘wfft’ to”)

:_______________________________.

-wg ‹uug› [uːg]
1 in a number of names in south-east Wales; a variant of -og (or its older form -awg) As a territorial suffix in
..a/ Gwyn|llw^g < Gwyn|llyw|wg < Gwyn|llyw|og / Gwyn|llyw|awg “territory of Gwynllyw” (district in the south-east, in the county of Casnewydd)

..b/ Morgannwg (name of a former kingdom, later a county, in the south east) < *Morgannog / *Morgannawg “territory of Morgan”
The name is seen in the county name Bro Morgannwg (“(the) lowland (of the kingdom of) Morgannwg”)

2 In Y Barri (county of Bro Morgannwg) there is a stream called Nant Talwg. The stream name is taken from the name of a ford which was Rhy’ Talwg < Rhy’ Talog < Rhyd Halog (= dirty ford / muddy ford)
There is devoicing of d before h, and the h is lost (d + h) + (t)

3 Also:
Llangatwg (= Llangadog) (name of various villages in the south-east)
Tregatwg (= Tregadog) (village in the county of Castell-nedd ac Aberafan)

:_______________________________.

wh-
1 This English orthographical convention representing the sound <hw> [hw] is used to represent the characteristic pronunciation of chw- <khw> [xw] in South-west Wales.
chwech / hwech = six

In this dictionary however we use the spelling hw-
(1) It is a more logical representation of the sound (and wh- is an unnecessary imitation of an English spelling convention)

(2) It can be seen as a mid-point between the northern and standard full form chw- <khw> [xw] and the south-eastern form with the loss of h- <h> [h]
(chwarae = to play (standard), chwara North-western, hware South-western, wara South-eastern)

(3) Corresponding words in Cornish, the sister language of Welsh, also have hw- in modern Cornish spelling

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wi <UI> [ʊɪ] verb
South Wales
1 colloquial form of yr wyf fi = I am....
Wi newydd weld ych brawd ar yr hewl
I've just seen your brother on the street (“I am newly seeing your brother ...)

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wi <WII> [wiː] masculine noun
PLURAL wiau <WII-ai, -e> [ˡwiˑaɪ, -ɛ] South Wales
1 egg (standard form: wy)
NOTE: in dialect writing, south-west wie <WII-e> [ˡwiˑɛ], south-east wia <WII-a> [ˡwiˑa]

:_______________________________.

wia <WII-a> [ˡwiˑa] masculine noun
South-east Wales
1 eggs; see wi

:_______________________________.

wie <WII-e> [ˡwiˑɛ]
South-west Wales
1 eggs; see wi

:_______________________________.

Y Wig ‹ə WIIG› [ə ˡwiːg]
1 place name, “the wood”

Noted as a place name in Llanwnnog: Weeg (Wig) c.1794

David (Hamer) (born) 1766/7… married Sarah Savage 13th February 1794 at Trefeglwys… they lived at a property called Weeg (Wig) in Llanwnnog.
http://mypastonline.com/hamerfamily.html

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Y Wigfa ‹ə wig-va› [ə ˡwɪgva]
1 place name
gwigfa gysgod shelter planting

1 Wigfa = y wigfa House in Trefriw (1881 Census)
2 Wigfa = y wigfa farm in Cilybebyll, Pontardawe

ETYMOLOGY: “the wood” (y = definite article) + soft mutation + (gwigfa = wood, grove), from (gwig = wood) + (-fa suffix = place)

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Wigfair ‹WIG-vair› [ˡwɪgvaɪr]

1 SJ0271 House by Dinbych, North Wales

http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/SJ0271 map (where spelt Wigfair)

ETYMOLOGY: The expected form would be Gwig-fair

(gwig = wood, grove) + soft mutation + (Mair = Mary)

In many place names with a feminine first-element, the soft-mutated form replaces the radical form, even though it should not possible in such a construction. It is probably through the much greater use of the soft-mutated word in the language, since it would occur after the definite article y, hence y wig (= the wood), and the soft-mutated form has been taken to be the base form or radical form

NOTE: The local form is Wicwer < Wigfer < Wígfair < Wig-fáir

Wicwer < Wigfer (devoicing and consonant change f > w; and devoicing g > c)

Wigfer < Wigfair (in colloquial Welsh ae, ai, au in a final syllable are reduced to the simple vowel e )

Wígfair < Wig-fáir (shift of strss to the first syllable; cf Llan-fáir (church of Mary) > Llánfair > Llánfer)

:_______________________________.

wiglo <WI-glo> [ˡwɪglɔ]verb
1 wiggle = (of woman moving body), move from side to side
2 wiglo'ch pen-ôl wiggle your bottom

ETYMOLOGY: English wiggle < Low German

:_______________________________.

wigwam <WIG-wam> [ˡwɪgwam]masculine noun
PLURAL wigwamiaid <wig-WAM-yaid, -yed> [wɪgˡwamjaɪd, -jɛd]

1 wigwam, formerly a shelter made of skins of certain native American peoples
2 wigwam = child's wigwam, for play

ETYMOLOGY: English wigwam < the eastern native American languages Abnaki and Massachuset wîkwâm "their abode"

:_______________________________.

Wil <WIL> [wɪl] (masculine noun)
1 name; Will (William)

:_______________________________.

Wiliam <WIL-yam> [ˡwɪljam] (masculine noun)
1 name; William

:_______________________________.

Wiliwch am y Gŵr Drwg a mae e'n siŵr o ddod
<WIL-yukh am ə guur DRUUG a mai en SHUUR o DHOOD> [ˡwɪljʊx am ə guːr ˡdruːg a maɪ ɛn ˡʃuːr ɔ ˡðoːd]
South Wales
1 Talk of the Devil and he appears

ETYMOLOGY: (wiliwch < chwedleuwch = speak, imperative form) + (am = of, about) + (y Gŵr Drwg, the Bad Man, that is, the Devil) + (a mae e, colloquial form of ac mae ef = and he is) + (yn = linking particle) + (siŵr = sure, certain) + (o = of) + soft mutation + (dod = to come)

:_______________________________.

Wilym ‹WI-lim› [ˡwɪlɪm]
1 occurs in certain place names – the soft mutation Gwilym > Wilym. The soft mutation of proper names is no longer occurs in modern Welsh, but formerly it had a genitive function – usually after feminine nouns, and rarely after masculine nouns.

(delw 7296)

..a/ Rhydwilym (SN1124) locality in the county of Caerfyrddin at Llandysilio
(“(the) ford (of) William”) (rhyd = feminine noun)

..b/ Stad Pontwilym (“Pontwillim Estate”), Aberhonddu (county of Powys)
(“(the) bridge (of) William”) (pont = feminine noun)

..c/ Craigwilym place name in Pen-tyrch (county of Caer-dydd) - name of a tenenment in the year 1666
(“(the) rock (of) William”) (craig = feminine noun)

:_______________________________.

winc <WINK> [wɪŋk] (f)
PLURAL: winciau <WINK-yai, -ye> [ˡwɪŋkjaɪ, -ɛ]

1 wink = the closing and opening of an eye quickly as a sign - that one is sharing a secret or a joke, or that there is sexual attraction, etc

rhoi winc fawr ar give (someone) a big wink - (for example, as a sign that a joke is being played at the expense of a third person) ('give a big wink on someone')

2 wink = least amount of sleep
Chysgais i'r un winc y noson honno
I didn't sleep a wink that night ('I didn't sleep the one wink that night')

ETYMOLOGY: English wink, from Old English wincian (= to wink).

Related word: German winken (= to wave), der Wink (= a wave of the arm, a wink, a nod of the head)

:_______________________________.

winc <WINK-yo> [ˡwɪŋkjɔ] (v)

1 to wink = close and open an eye quickly as a sign - that one is sharing a secret or a joke, or that there is sexual attraction, etc
wincio ar wink at
Cododd Siôn ei lygaid ac wincio arno Siôn looked up (“raised his eyes”) and winked at him

ETYMOLOGY: English wink, from Old English wincian (= to wink).

:_______________________________.

winsh <WINSH> [wɪnʃ]fm
PLURAL winshys <WIN-shis> [ˡwɪnʃɪs]
1 (South Wales) well
shinco winsh to sink a well (south-east Wales)

See Winsh-fawr, Winsh-wen

2 winch

ETYMOLOGY: English winch (= crank of a well) < Old English winch- (= pulley)
(An example of synecdoche, which has various meanings, but here in its meaning of “pars pro toto”– the name of a part is used for the whole – e.g. Holland used in the sense of The Netherlands, or England uses in the sense of the island of Britain, or ten head of cattle, etc)

:_______________________________.

Y Winsh-fawr <ə winsh-VAUR> [ə wɪnʃ ˡvaʊr]› feminine noun,
1 farm and hamlet SO0206 south of Clwydyfagwyr (county of Merthyrtudful)

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1004870

Here there is “Winch Fawr Road” (which would be Heol Winsh-fawr / Heol y Winsh-fawr in Welsh) and in nearby Heolgerrig “Winch Fawr Park” (which would be Parc Winsh-fawr / Parc y Winsh-fawr in Welsh)

ETYMOLOGY: “y winsh fawr”

“the big well” (y = definite article) + (winsh = well) + soft mutation + (mawr = great, big)

:_______________________________.

Y Winsh-wen <ə winsh-WEN> [ə wɪnʃ ˡwɛn] feminine noun,
1 (SS6896) village south-east of Y Trallwng (SS6996) in the county of Abertawe

http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/SS6896

ETYMOLOGY: “y winsh wen” “the white well”

(y = definite article) + (winsh = well) + soft mutation + (gwen feminine form of the adjective gwyn = white)

:_______________________________.

winwns picl <WI-nuns PI-kil> [ˡwɪnʊns ˡpɪkɪl] (plural noun)
1 pickled onions

:_______________________________.

winwnsyn, winwns <wi-NUN-sin, WI-nuns> [wɪˡnʊnsɪn, ˡwɪnʊns] (masculine noun)
1 onion (South);
2 in the North: nionyn, PLURAL nionod ‹ni-OO-nin, ni-OO-nod› [nɪˡoˑnɪn, nɪˡoˑnɔd]

:_______________________________.

wisgeren ‹wi-SKEE-ren› [wɪˡskeˑrɛn]feminine noun
PLURAL wisgers <WI-skers> [ˡwɪskɛrs]
1 whisker (of a cat, mouse)

ETYMOLOGY: (wisger = whisker < English whisker) + (-en suffix added to a noun taken from another language to Cymricise it)

English whisker < whisk < wisk (= to sweep) < Scandinavian

Cf Norwegian viske (= to rub, to wipe), German wischen (= to wipe)

:_______________________________.

wisgi <WI-ski> [ˡwɪskɪ] (masculine noun)
1 whisky, whiskey

wisgi india-corn corn whiskey

ETYMOLOGY: English whisky < Lowlandic (Scottish Anglian language) whisky bea < Scottish (= Gàidhlig) uisge beatha (= whisky, literally “water (of) life”)

NOTE: Also chwisgi, though this is not used colloquially
:_______________________________.

witsh <WICH> [wɪʧ] feminine
PLURAL witshus <WI-chis> [ˡwɪʧɪs]1 witch

2 (South-west Wales) cusanu'r witsh (“kiss the witch”) tut (to show sorrow or sympathy)

3 (South-east Wales) bod yn ’itha (= eithaf) witsh (“be quite a witch”) said of a woman who has correctly predicted something

ETYMOLOGY: English witch < Old English wicca
:_______________________________.

Y Wladfa <ə ^uLAD-va> [ə ˡ^wladva]feminine noun
1 (Gwladfa Patagonia) the Welsh settlement in Patagonia (established in 1865)
creulys y Wladfa Magellan ragwort (Senecio smiithi)

:_______________________________.

wlpan, wlpanau <UL-pan, ul-PAA-nai, -ne> [ˡʊlpan, ʊlˡpɑˑnaɪ, -ɛ] (masculine noun)
1 wlpan, Welsh immersion course

cwrs wlpan an Ulpan course

:_______________________________.

-wm
1 Some words in Welsh are originally Latin forms. They are generally taken from English, and as in English the Latin plural form –a is used.

awditoriwm, awditoria auditorium
bacteriwm, bacteria bacterium
candelabrwm, candelabra candelabra
carpogoniwm, carpogonia carpogonium
consortiwm, consortia consortium
craniwm, crania cranium
cwantwm, cwanta quantum
emporiwm, emporia emporium
fflagelwm, fflagela flagellum (Biology)
ffoliwm, ffolia folium (Mathematics)
gumnasiwm, gumnasia gymnasium (= type of secondary school)
hilwm, hila hilum (Anatomy)
mileniwm, milenia millenium
miliwm, milia milium (= nodule on skin)
paladiwm, paladia palladium
parapodiwm, parapodia parapodium
parameciwm, paramecia paramoecium
penisiliwm, penisilia penicillium (fungus)
pericóndriwm, pericóndria perichondrium
planetariwm, planetaria planetarium
podiwm, podia podium
refferendwm, refferenda referendum
sbectrwm, sbectra spectrwm
sbécwlwm, sbécwla speculum
sbermogoniwm, sbermogonia spermogonium
sbirilwm, sbirila spirillum
serebelwm, serebela cerebellum
sérebrwm, sérebra cerebrum
serwm, sera serum
sgrotwm, sgrota scrotum
sternwm, sterna sternum
stadiwm, stadia stadium
sumposiwm, sumposia symposium
teliwm, telia telium

BUT some words have –ymau in the plural:
albwm, albymau album
corwm, cworymau quorum
fforwm, fforymau forum
ffwlcrwm, ffwlcrymau fulcrum
premiwm, premiymau premium
septwm, septymau septum

AND other words have either –a or –ymau in the plural::
ewffoniwm, ewffonia / ewffoniymau euphonium
rectwm, recta / rectymau rectum
trapesiwm, trapesia / trapesiymau trapezium

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Wmffre ‹UM fre› (masculine noun)
1 man's name = Humphrey

Originally Hwmffre - the older form had an inital H - so the patronymic ab Hwmffre became ap Hwmffre > Pwmffre, anglicised as Pumphrey.

:_______________________________.

wnaeth ‹wnaith › verb
NOTE: Colloquially: naath (usually spelt na’th, nâth or nath)

1 a wnaeth who did, who made; which did, which made. Gwnaeth = third person singular of the preterite gwneud (= to do)

Pa beth a wnaeth ef? > Be’ naath e? What did he do? ((“it is”) what thing that he did?”)

:_______________________________.

wnaiff ‹wnaif › verb
NOTE: Colloquially: often naiff
1 a wnaiff who will do, who will make; which will do, which will make. Gwnaiff = third person singular of the future of gwneud (= to do)

Pa beth a wnaiff ef? > Be’ naiff e? What will he do? ((“it is”) what thing that he will do?”)

:_______________________________.

wnawn ‹wnaun › verb
NOTE: Colloquially: often nawn
1 a wnawn which will do, which will make. Gwnawn = second person plural of the future of gwneud (= to do)

Pa beth a wnawn ni? > Be’ nawn ni? What will we do? ((“it is”) what thing that we will do?”)

Beth yn y byd ’wnawn ni? What on earth shall we do?

:_______________________________.

wnei di? ‹wnei dii› verb
1 a wnei di? will you?
Used after an imperative, as a request, or exasperated command

Gwrando, wnei di! Just listen, will you!

Rwan, Beca, ’nghariad i, gafael di'n siansi Huw bach, wnei di? Now, Beca, darling, get hold of Huw’s jumper, will you?

Mae eisiau dwy gadair arall o'r parlwr. Cyrhaedda nhw, wnei di? We need two more chairs from the parlour. Fetch them, will you?

Darllen o, Jên Elin, wnei di? Read it, Jên Elin, will you?

ETYMOLOGY: (a = interrogative particle) + soft mutation + (gwnei di = you will do)

:_______________________________.

wn i ddim ‹un i DHIM› (verb)
1 I don't know

:_______________________________.

wnnog ‹u -nog›
1 See: wynog abundant in lambs
(Hafodwnnog = Hafodwynog summer house abundant in lambs)

:_______________________________.

worlod <WOR-lod> [ˡwɔrlɔd] (f)
1 (South Wales) soft-mutated form of gworlod, a variant form of gweirglodd (qv) (= hay meadow)
……………………….
Worlodyrawel (“Worlod yr Awel”)
House name in Llanddewi Ysgyryd SO3416 (“(the) hay meadow (of) the breeze”, breezy hay meadow)

One might expect Gworlodyrawel, with an initial G-, since there is no reason for a soft mutation of the first word.

There are however instances of gweirglodd (or its variants) in the mutated form weirglodd (or its variants) being used as a radical form. This use of the soft-mutated form as a radical is particularly common in place names with feminine nouns, especially monosyllables (waun < gwaun, wern < gwern, fron < bron, etc)
……………………….

Penyworlod SO3626 Farm near Rowlestone, Herefordshire pen y worlod / pen y weirglodd “(the) end / top / head (of) the hay-meadow”

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1187649 map

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/448719 map

……………………………
Penyworlod SO3626 Farm in Herefordshire, in Dyffryn Euas / Ewyas Valley near Capel-y-ffin, Powys
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/273211

……………………………
Penyworlod Farm in Llanfair ym Muallt

……………………………
Penyworlod Farm in Y Pandy / Llanwytherin, Y Fenni

……………………………

:_______________________________.

-wr ‹ur›
1 suffix denoting an agent - from 'gwr' = man

:_______________________________.

wrach 1 ‹^wraakh›
1 soft-mutated form of gwrach (= witch, hag)

y wrach the witch

:_______________________________.

wrach 2 ‹UU-rakh›
1 (North Wales) reduced form of hwyrach (= perhaps, maybe)

Originally this was nid hwyrach (qv) (“not later”)

..1 nid hwyrach > hwyrach
..2 hwyrach > hwrach ‹HUU-rakh› (reduction of the pretonic diphthing wy > simple vowel w, a feature of other words in Welsh, especially gwybod (= to know) > gwbod).
..3 hwrach > wrach ‹UU-rakh›, with the loss of the initial h

:_______________________________.

Wrecsam ‹WREK sam›
1 town in the north-east

2 Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Wrecsam the County Borough Council of Wrecsam
(the municipal administration)

:_______________________________.

wrglod <UR-glod> [ˡʊrglɔd] (f)
1 (South Wales) soft-mutated form of gwrglod, a variant form of gweirglodd (qv) (= hay meadow)
:_______________________________.

wrlod <UR-lod> [ˡʊrlɔd] (f)
1 (South Wales) soft-mutated form of gwrlod, a variant form of gweirglodd (qv) (= hay meadow)
:_______________________________.

wrlodd <UR-lodh> [ˡʊrlɔð] (f)
1 (South Wales) soft-mutated form of gwrlodd, a variant form of gweirglodd (qv) (= hay meadow)

.....(1) Penyrwrlodd SO2239 <pen-ər-UR-lodh> [pɛn ər ˡʊrlɔð]
Farm name
In his Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1849, Samuel Lewis, under Llanigon SO2139 (modern-day Powys), states:
Upon a high bank to the south-east of the church is Penyrwrlodd, now a farmhouse, originally built in 1651, by William Watkins, an active officer in the army of the parliament during the reign of Charles I., and one of the principal agents of the propagators of the Gospel in South Wales
http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=215472 map

:_______________________________.

wrglo <UR-glo> [ˡʊrglɔ] (f)
1 (South Wales) soft-mutated form of gwrglo, a variant form of gweirglodd (qv) (= hay meadow)

:_______________________________.

wrmwd <UR-mud> [ˡʊrmʊd] (m)
1 Variant form of wermod (qv) (= wormwood)

:_______________________________.

wrth ‹urth› (preposition)
1 by, next to
(first person singular) by / next to / to me
(1) wrtho i ‹UR thoi›
(1) wrthon ni ‹UR tho ni› (first person plural) by / next to / to us

(2) wrthot ti ‹UR tho ti› (second person singular) by / next to / to you ('thee')
(2) wrthoch chi ‹UR tho khi› (second person plural) by / next to / to you (you all)

(3) wrtho fe / fo ‹UR tho ve / vo› (third person masculine / next to / toe singular) by / next to / to him
(3) wrthi hi ‹UR thi hi› (third person feminine / next to / toby / next to / toe singular) by / next to / to her
(3) wrthyn nhw ‹UR thi nu› (third person plural) by / next to / to them

ci wrth sawdl ei feistr a dog at the heel of its owner

2 wrth y drws ‹URTH› (phrase)
at the door
(bod) wrth eich bodd ‹urth əkh BOODH› (adverb) be very pleased

3 (after certain verbs)
digio wrth get angry with
dweud wrth = say to

4 (North) bwrw’ch bol wrth rywun unbosom / unburden yourself to

5 (juxtaposition)
..1/ cefn wrth gefn back to back
tai cefn wrth gefn back to back houses
..2/ rudd wrth rudd cheek by jowl, close together
..3/ ystlys wrth ystlys side by side, cheek by jowl

Note that juxtaposition is indicated by yn in some expressions:
wyneb yn wyneb face to face

6 after verbs
galw rhywbeth wrth ei enw call a spade a spade (“call something by its name”)

7 by (means of suspension)

pobl oeddynt â'r cleddyf megis yn hongian uwch eu pennau wrth edef deneu iawn
Plant y Gorthrwm / 1908 / Gwyneth Vaughan (= Anne Harriet Hughes 1852-1910)
They were people with a sword (“the sword”) as it were hanging over them on a very thin thread
:_______________________________.

..2 wrth ‹urth› (conjunctiuon)
1 while
wrth weithio'n galed while working hard

:_______________________________.

wrth eich bodd
1 bod wrth eich bodd dros... be very pleased for
Rw i wrth ’y modd drosoch chi I’m very pleased for you, I’m thrilled for you (“I’m at my satisfaction over you”)

:_______________________________.

wrth eich galwedigaeth ‹urth əkh gal-we-dî-geth› adverb
1 by trade

ETYMOLOGY: (wrth = by) + (eich = your) + (galwedigaeth = trade, occupation)

:_______________________________.

wrth fodd eich calon ‹urth voodh əkh ka-lon›
1 extremely satisfying after one's own heart, exactly as desired (“at the satisfaction of your heart”)
gwneud gwaith sydd wrth fodd ei galon do a job which is his heart’s desire
Dyn wrth fodd fy nghalon yw e He’s a man after my own heart, He’s the kind of man I like

ETYMOLOGY: (wrth = at) + soft mutation + (bodd = satisfaction) + (eich = your) + (calon = heart)

:_______________________________.

wrth gefn ‹urth ge -ven› adverb
1 set by, in reserve
bod gennych ddigon wrth gefn to have enough to live on
cadw (rhywbeth) wrth gefn keep something in reserve

ETYMOLOGY: “in the back” (wrth = by) + soft mutation + (cefn = back)

:_______________________________.

wrth gwrs ‹urth KURS› (phrase)
1 of course

:_______________________________.

wrthi ‹ur -thi› adverb
1 ‘near her’ third person feminine singular of the preposition wrth
2 busy, in the expression bod wrthi (= be busy, be working at it, be at it)
bod wrthi fel lladd nadroedd sweating one’s guts out (from great effort), be at it hammer and tongs (“be at it like killing snakes”)
Also: bod wrthi fel petai'n lladd nadroedd, (“be at it as if he were killing snakes”)

:_______________________________.

wryw ‹u -riu› adjective
1 soft mutation of gwryw (= male).

This mutated form wryw is used especially in denoting the male of species of which the reprsentative individual is feminine

cath wryw tomcat (North Wales) ("cat + male")
colomen wryw male pigeon, cock pigeon ("pigeon + male")

also:

putain wryw male prostitute

:_______________________________.

wyryf ‹WI-riv› noun / adjective
1 see gwyryf (= virgin).

:_______________________________.

-ws ‹us› (verb)
1 archaic - survives in the Welsh of South-east Wales - third-person preterite ending (modern standard Welsh = -odd) "rhedodd / rhedws" ‹RHE dodh / RHE dus› = ran

:_______________________________.

-ws ‹us› suffix
1 in words taken which in Middle English had the final element -us (from {huus} = house; that is, as a second element, with a short vowel, and loss of initial h).

In modern English, many of these words have been reformed, with {haus} "house" replacing the older pronunciation with {-us}.

bacws bakehouse (as in the surname Backus, from Cumbria and Northumberland in England)

betws church (the modern English form, though not in general use, is "beadhouse" = prayer house)

briws pantry ('brew-house')
Guardian 23 January 2003: The distinctive dialect of the "Yam Yams" spoken in towns like Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Tipton and Dudley… has an entirely different verb "to be" which is conjugated "yam, you am, they am"…and its own vocabulary such as… broo'us (a brewery).

The Miller’s Tale c.1380-1400, Geoffrey Chaucer,
In al the toun nas brewhous ne taverne
That he ne visited with his solas,
In all the town there was not a single brew house nor a tavern
That he didn't visit with his mirth (he didn’t go to with his mirthful entertaining)

coetsiws coach house (which must be a late word)
The Coachhoose a former building in Hawick, Scotland
http://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott/book.pdf

rheinws 'roundhouse', a lock-up, (USA: jail) (Englandic: gaol)

storws storehouse

wyrcws workhouse

:_______________________________.

wsnos ‹us -nos›
North-west Wales
1 week; See wythnos

Mae’n well gan y band chwara ar ganol wsnos
The band prefers to play midweek

NOTE: (1) wythnos > wthnos; (reduction of the tonic vowel wy > w); (2) replacement of th with s from the influence of the s in the following syllable (wthnos > wsnos)

:_______________________________.

wsti ‹ u -sti› adj
1 gwyddost ti you know, y’ know > wyddost ti > wsti, (Also reduced to a single syllable sti)

2 a wyddost ti do you know?

A wyddost ti beth? Do you know what? (Question which serves to attract a listener’s attention to the utterance which follows). Colloquially wyddost ti be, or may be reduced to wsti be, or sti be)

:_______________________________.

wt ‹ut› (masculine noun)
1 (South-west) penis (colloquial form)

:_______________________________.

wtra ‹u -tra› feminine noun
PLURALwtregydd, wtrëydd ‹w-trê-gidh, u-trê-idh ›

1 lane (mid-Wales, especially in the former county of Trefaldwyn, now the northern portion of Powys, and as far as Dolgellau in the contiguous portion of the county of Gwynedd)

Tynyrwtra house on the lane east from Llanidloes to Mynachlog (“(the) smallholding (of) the lane”)

Wtra Plas-coch Wtra Plas-coch road name in Dolgellau (“(the) lane (of) Plas-coch”). Plas-coch is “red mansion”

Wtra’r Felin lane by the church in Dolgellau (“(the) lane (of) the mill”)

ETYMOLOGY: dialect English outrake (= passage for sheep)

NOTE: It seems that wtra is the original form of the word.

In the north-western corner of Wales, a final –a usually replaces an original final –e. The use of final –e (wtre) may be the result of “final –e speakers” assuming that “final –a speakers” were using an original final –e word in areas where this pronunciation feature is contrasted (for example, around Dolgellau, where Dolgella / Dolgelle are local forms).

If not, though it seems unlikely, the plural form could have influenced the word (wtregydd causing wtra > wtre; the change of a > e in the plural is the result of the ‹i› in the plural suffix –ydd)

:_______________________________.

wtre ‹u -tre› feminine noun
1 form of the word wtra in the “final e = e” zone of mid-Wales. See wtra

:_______________________________.

wwnco ‹wun -co› masculine pronoun
South-east Wales
1 that one over there; see hwn acw

:_______________________________.

y
1 in spoken Welsh, there is a tendency for this diphthong ‹wə-› when it occurs in a tonic syllable to be reduced to ‹u›; some place names reduced in this way have become standard

..1/ ayddu (to desire) > awddu > wddu
..2/ Bod ynnog (church of Gwynnog) > Botwnnog (village in Gwynedd)
..3/ chydu (= to vomit) > chwdu (North), hwdu, wdu (South)
..4/ chyrnu (= to snore, to growl) > chwrnu, hwrnu
..5/ chysu (= to sweat) > chwsu (North), hwsu, wsu (South)
..6/ chythu (= to blow) > chwthu (North), hwthu, wthu (South)
..7/ eyllys (= will ‹desire›; will ‹testament›) > wyllys > wllys
..8/ gyndon (= pasture) > gwndon > gwndwn
..9/ gynnu (= bleach, whiten) > gwnnu
..10/ gythi > gwthi (veins, sinews) (South)
..11/ Llan yndaf (church of Gwyndaf) > Llanwnda (village in Powys)
..12/ teychu (= to fatten, to make fat; to get fat) > tyychu > *t’ychu > twchu
..14/ tyyllwch > t’yllwch (= darkness) > twllwch
..15/ tyynnu (= to shine) > t’ynnu > twnnu
..16/ tyysu (to lead) > *t’ysu > twsu

:_______________________________.

wy
A falling diphthong = vowel ‹u› + vowel ‹i›

1 in the dialects a wy in the (accented) penult syllable is sometimes reduced to w, especially in the South

..1/ cwympo (= to fall) > cwmpo

..2/ (Maldwyn, in Powys) cwynos (= meal, food) > cwnos

..3/ gwydn ‹gwi-› (= tough) > gwwyddn ‹gwui-› > gwyddyn ‹gui-› > gwddyn ‹gu-›

..4/ Hafodwynog (farm name in Uwchygarreg (SH7693) 9km south of Machynlleth (district of Maldwyn, in the county of Powys) = “upland farm abounding in lambs”) > Hafodwnog

..5/ hwyrach (maybe, perhaps) > wrach ‹u-rach› (North Wales)

..6/ llan y gwyryfon (church of the virgins) > Llangwyryfon ‹lhan-gui-rə-von› (name of a village in Ceredigion)
….a/ > Llangwyryddon (change f > dd)
….b/ > *Llangw’ryddon / *Llangwryddon ‹lhan-gu-rə-dhon› (local name of the village)
….c/ > Llangw’r’ddon / Llangwrddon ‹lhan-gur-dhon› (local name of the village)

..7/ twymiad (= warming) > twmiad

..8/ wyneb (= face) > wmed

..9/ wythnos (= week) > wthnos, wsnoth

Some forms with w are now standard
..1/ twmpath (= hillock) < twympath < twynpath

2 In some cases the reduction wy < w has occurred in a prepenult syllable

Twyn Barlwm (hill in the county of Torfaen, = “(the) mound (on the hill called) Barlwm”. Barlwm is “bare (hill)” (bar = summit) + soft mutation + (llwm = bare).

Twyn Barlwm has become Twm Barlwm (with the change n > m before b)

3 The wy ‹ui› in monosyllables and polysyllables is often from a long ‘e’ in British (either words from come form Common Celtic, or loans in British from Latin)

..1/ cadwyn (= chain) < British < Latin cadêna (= chain)
..2/ cannwyll (= candle) < British < Latin candêla (= candle)
..3/ cwyr (= wax) < British < Latin cêra (= wax)
..4/ dwys (= dense) < British < Latin dênsus (= dense)
..5/ eglwys (= church) < British < Latin ecclêsia (= church)
..6/ egwyddor (= principle) < British < Latin âbêcêdârium (= alphabet)
..7/ gwenwyn (= poison) < British < Latin venênum (= poison)
..8/ proffwyd (= prophet) < British < Latin profêta (= prophet)
..9/ rhwyd (= net) < British < Latin rête (= net)
..19/ rhwyf (= oar) < British < Latin rêma (= oar)

There are also examples of wy in monosyllables and polysyllables possibly from a long ‘e’ in British which has replaced an original i
..1/ paradwys (= paradise) < British < Latin paradîsus (= paradise)
..2/ swyn (= charm) < British < Latin signum (= sign)
..3/ synnwyr (= sense) < British < Latin sentîre (= to feel)

4 Old Welsh wy, Modern Welsh e
wy > ae > e

halwyn > halaen > halen (= salt)
maharwyn > maharaen > maharen (= ram)
parwyd > paraed > pared (= wall)

5 Final wy as English [ou] in place-names

Cleirwy / Cleirw’ <KLEI-rui, KLEI-ru> > Clyro <KLAI-rou> village in Powys

Mynwy / Mynw’ <MƏN-ui, MƏN-u> > Monnow <MO-nou> town in Mynwy county

Arwy / Arw’ <AR-ui, AR-u> > Arrow <A-rou> river in Powys

Probably from a Welsh form where final wy <ui> is reduced to w <u>, a general feature in spoken Welsh

cf ofnadwy <of.NAA-dui] (= terrible) > spoken Welsh ofnadw’ <of.NAA-du]
:_______________________________.

y (semi consonant + vowel) <wi> > wy (diphthong) <ui> in some cases

gyddfid (= forest, wood; hedge; hedged enclosure)
(gy^dd = wood, trees) + soft mutation + (bid = hedge)

Y yfid by Betws-y-coed, i.e. with the loss of ‘dd’ y’fid < yddfid
keeps the original consonantal

By contrast, in these place names it has changed:

..a/ By Llandudno there was a township called Yr Wyddfid;
the name is to be seen in “Ysgol yr Wyddfid / Wyddfid School”, a primary school in Llandudno

..b/ In Helygain (Sir y Fflint) there is Yr Wyddfid Ucha / Yr Wyddfid Isa

:_______________________________.

wy (diphthong) <ui> ibecomes y (semi consonant + vowel) <wi> in some cases

The change to y has occurred is especially evident where a name has the definite article, as the article is y rather than yr

..a/ gwyddfa > gyddfa

Yr Wyddfa name of the highest mountain in Wales “(the mountain of the) burial tumulus”

Moel yr Wyddfa name of the peak of the mountain (“bald hill of Yr Wyddfa”)

Llys yr Wyddfa “(the) court (of) Yr wyddfa”, a street name inY Rhyl

BUT:

Tremyyddfa / Trem y yddfa “view of Y yddfa ”, Snowdon view.
..i/ House name.
..ii/ Street name
…….1 Penrhyndeudraeth
…….2 Pen-y-groes
…….3 Brynrefail

..b/ Gwynedd, originally the diphthong [ui], now more often pronounced as consonant w + vowel y.

Gynedd

..c/ wy <ui> becomes y <wi> in South Wales (sometimes written wi to represent this regional pronunciation)

..d/ gwylan
yr wylan (the seagull) > y ylan

:_______________________________.

wy ‹ui› masculine noun
PLURAL wyau ‹ui- e›
1 egg = reproductive body produced by females of birds, reptiles, fish, insects and other animals

2 egg = hen's egg

3 ovum (also ofwm, plural: ofa)

4 wy caetsh battery egg

5 free-range egg: wy maes ("egg {of the} field") or wy buarth ("egg {of the} farmyard")

6 moel fel wy (‘bald like an egg’) (said of a man with a bald head) as bald as a coot

7 (South-east Wales, and Ceredigion) pilio wyau to beat about the bush, not come straight to the point (“peeling eggs”)
heb bilo wyau going straight to the point, without beating about the bush (“without peeling eggs”)

8 wylys aubergine
A neologism; from American eggplant (= aubergine)

(wy = egg) + soft mutation + (llys = plant)
NOTE: South Wales = wi ‹wii›, plural: wiau / wie ‹wii-e›

:_______________________________.

-wy ‹ui ›
1 a final element in many river names, with no specific meaning (.i.e. it is not a suffix in most cases, but an integral part of the name)

Ardudwy / Conwy / Cornwy / Daethwy / Degannwy / Donwy / Ebwy / Elwy / Mynwy / Silwy / Tawy (nowadays Tawe)

2 Nineteenth-century river-name suffix: the number of river names in -wy and the river name Gwy led to the belief of a 'primitive word' gwy meaning water. Many river names were 'corrected' in the 1800s, and the supposed suffix was 'restored’ to names which had supposedly lost it.

Nowadays these invented forms have largely disappeared, though traces remain in minor place names (house names and street names)

..a/ Aman (river in the county of Caerfyrddin, south-west Wales) > Amanwy

..b/ Ewenni (SS9177) (river in the county of Bro Morgannwg, south-east Wales) > Ewynwy

..c/ Gorci / Orci > Orchwy (stream in the county of Rhondda Cynon Taf, south-east Wales)
There is a street called Heol Orchwy in Treorci (county of Rhondda Cynon Taf)

..d/ Llyfni (county of Gwynedd, north-west Wales) SH4852 > Llyfnwy. There is a street in Tal-y-sarn called Maesllyfnwy “Maes Llyfnwy” (“(the) field (on the bank of the river) Llyfni”)

..e/ Llynfi (SS 8983) (river in the county of Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr, south-east Wales) (historically Llynfi) > Llyfnwy

..f/ Mersi > Merswy (River Mersey, name of the river on the estuary of which Liverpool, England is situated)

..g/ Ogwr > Ogwy (river in the county of Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr, south-east Wales)

There is a street called Heol Ogwy (“Ogwy Street”) in Nant-y-moel (county of Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr)

(delw 7452)

One famous example with –wy is the Welsh name for the river Chubut in Patagonia - Camwy
(cam = crooked, winding) + (-wy = water, river)

See also the entry at gwy

NOTE ON THE FEMALE NAME AERONWY

ETYMOLOGY: Based on the name of the river Aeron in Ceredigion.

‘the river Aeron’ (Aeron) + (suffix –wy, meaning river)

However, an interesting footnote can be added to this.

There was a tendency in the 1800s for some literati to ‘correct’ the names of rivers by adding the suffix -wy (the soft-mutated form of gwy), which they presumed had been part of the river name but had been worn away over the passage of time.

Indeed, the fact that other river names end in -wy (Elwy, Conwy, Mynwy, etc) and that one important river was actually called simply Gwy (in English, the Wye) led them to believe that all river names had had it, but not all had maintained it.

William Owen-Pughe’s dictionary published from 1797 onwards was to a great extent to blame for this misconception, as he included the word gwy (said by him to mean fluid or water, but really the product of his imagination) in his Dictionary of Welsh and English dictionary published gradually from 1797 onwards and into the first decade of the 1800s. .

Though many river names do end in –wy, there are a variety of explanations, depending on the particular name, and indeed it may be some kind of suffix in some names, but it certainly does not mean ‘fluid’ or ‘water’.

In his dictionary, on page 195, under gwy, which William Owen-Pughe marks as a masculine noun with the plural gwyon, he states that it is: A fluid, or liquid; water. This word, and Aw, are in the composition of a great number of terms, which relate to fluidity; and especially the names of rivers; as Dyfrdonwy, Edwy, Efyrnwy, Llugwy, Mawddwy, Mynwy and Tredonwy.

Dyfrdonwy is his entirely fanciful correction for Dyfrdwy (Dee in English), and Tredonwy is a mystery – at least, to me.

But since there was a general conception amongst many that there was a suffix –wy meaning ‘fluid’, ‘water’, and hence ‘river’, it is not incorrect to say that Aeronwy means ‘river Aeron’ (Aeron) + (suffix -wy meaning river)

:_______________________________.

-wy
As a genuine final element in stream or river names of more than one syllable, it is often reduced to the simple vowel w
(this is the rule in southern colloquial Welsh at least; ofnadwy (= awful) > ofnadw / ofnatw, morwyn (= maid) > morwn

Often this becomes English [ou] “-o, -ow”

Arwy > *Arw > Arrow
Bachwy (Maldwyn, Powys) > *Bachw > “Bacho Brook”
Ebwy > Ebw
Mynwy > *Mynw / *Monw > Monnow

:_______________________________.

wybren ‹ui -bren› feminine noun
PLURAL wybrennau, wybrennydd ‹ui-bre-ne, -nidh›
1 sky

Yr oedd y lleuad fel pe bai yn nofio yn yr wybren
The moon looked as if it was (“the moon was as if”) floating in the sky

2 bwa'r wybren rainbow ("(the) bow (of) the sky")

ETYMOLOGY: ??
NOTE: in some dialects an initial g is prefixed: gwybren

:_______________________________.

Yr Wyddfa <UIDH-va> [ˡʊɪðva]
1 SH6054 mountain in Gwynedd (the highest in Wales) 1085m

English name: Snowdon (“snow hill”)

Moel yr Wyddfa – name of the peak of this mountain

(Yr Alpau) Y mae'r mynyddoedd enfawr hyn yn gwneud i'n Gwyddfa fach ni
edrych fel twmpath gwâdd ymron, a Bannau Brycheiniog fel cwys ar ôl yr aradr (Seneddwr ar Dramp, Rhys J Davies, 1935)
(The Alps) These enormous mountains make our little Gwyddfa / Snowdon look almost like a molehill, and Bannau Brycheiniog / the Brecon Beacons like a furrow behind a plough

Gwyddfa Rhita Gawr (“the burial mound of Rhita the Giant”) old name for the mountain

lili’r Wyddfa (Lloydia serotina) Snowdon lily

Trên Bach yr Wyddfa (“the little train / the narrow-gauge train of Yr Wyddfa”) Snowdon Mountain Railway

2 pan fo'r Wyddfa'n gaws (to indicate that something is very unlikely to happen) when the moon is green cheese, at the Greek calends (“when Y Wyddfa should be cheese”)

Pe bydde’r Wyddfa i gyd yn gaws / Mi fydde’n haws cael enllyn (part of a traditional verse)
If the Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon mountain) was all cheese / It would be easier to get companage

3 (Tremywyddfa / Trem y Wyddfa)

Tremyrwyddfa / Trem yr Wyddfa “view of Yr Wyddfa ”, Snowdon view.

House name.

..a/ Street name in Penrhydeudraeth

..b/ Street name in Pen-y-groes

..c/ Street name in Brynrefail

..d/ Street name in Minffordd

..e/ house name, Tal-y-sarn

(delw 7409)

4 Gwêlyrwyddfa “(the) view (of) Yr Wyddfa”, Snowdon View

(gwêl = view) + (yr Wyddfa mountain name, “the grave”, Snowdon)
Street name in Porthaethwy (county of Môn)

5 Llys yr Wyddfa, Y Rhyl “(court) view (of) Yr Wyddfa”, Snowdon Court

ETYMOLOGY: “The tumulus". Yr Wyddfa < y Wyddfa (originally a consonantal ‘w’)
(y = definite article) + soft mutation + (gwyddfa = tumulus, burial mound)

:_______________________________.

Yr Wyddgrug <ər UIDH-grig> [ərˡʊɪðgrɪg] (feminine noun)
1 town in North-east Wales - 'the tumulus, the tomb'.
In English, the name 'Mold' is used instead of the native name, from an original French form 'Mont Hault' (equivalent to modern French “Mont Haut” = high hill)

:_______________________________.

wyddwn i ddim <UI-dhun i DHIM> [ˡʊɪðʊnɪ ˡðɪm]verb
1 I didn’t know
wyddwn i ddim llai na…
I was certain that…, I felt sure that…, I was convinced that… (“I didn’’t know less than”)

Wyddwn i ddim llai na’i fod e wedi boddi
I was sure that he’d drowned

ETYMOLOGY: wyddwn i ddim < ni wyddwn i ddim (ni = negative particle – colloquially thos negative particle is lost) + soft mutaiton + (gwyddwn = I knew, < gwybod = to know) + (i = I) + (ddim = not)

:_______________________________.

Ŵyl Eilian <uil EIL-yan> [ʊɪl ˡəɪljan]adverb
1 On the feastday of Eilian, on 13 January. In the saying about the lengthening day after the winter solstice:

Awr fawr Calan, dwy Ŵyl Eilian, tair Ŵyl Fair

Literal translation: ‘big hour (on) (the) calend (“awr fawr y Calan”), two (on) Eilian’s feastday, (and) three (on) Mary’s feastday’

that is, the day will have lengthened a full hour by New Year’s Day (Y Calan) on January the first, (half an hour in the morning a half an hour in the evening),

two hours on Eilian’s feastday (Gŵyl Eilian) on January the thirteenth,

and three hours by Lady Day (Gŵyl Fair) on February the second

NOTE: Ŵyl Eilian = on the feastday of saint Eilian < Gŵyl Eilian = feastday of saint Eilian. In adverbial phrases there is soft mutation of the initial consonant, hence gŵyl > ŵyl

:_______________________________.

wylo <UI-lo> [ˡʊɪlɔ] (verb)
1 cry

wylo fel plentyn cry like a child

2 Nid gwiw wylo am yr hyn sydd ddiadfer
It’s no use crying over spilt milk
(“It is unfitting crying over what is irrecoverable“)

:_______________________________.

wylofus <ui-LOO-vis> [ʊɪˡloˑvɪs]adjective
1 wailing, tearful

2 (willow) weeping = having drooping branches
helygen wylofus (Salix babylonica) weeping willow
helygen wylofus euraidd (Salix chrysocoma) golden weeping willow

ETYMOLOGY: (wylof-, from wylofain = to weep) (-us suffix for forming adjectives)

:_______________________________.

wylys ‹UI-lis› [ˡʊɪlɪs]masculine noun
PLURAL wylysiau <ui-LƏ-shai, -she> [ʊɪˡləʃaɪ, -ɛ]
1 aubergine

ETYMOLOGY: neologism; from American eggplant (= aubergine) (wy = egg) + soft mutation + (llys = plant)

:_______________________________.

wyn <UIN> [ʊɪn] (plural noun)
(plural form)
1 See: oen <OIN> [ɔɪn] = lamb

:_______________________________.

Wyn <WIN> [wɪn]
1 surname = fair-haired, white-haired.
Older Welsh spelling: Wynn, Anglicised spelling: Wynne

:_______________________________.

-wyn <WIN> [wɪn]
1 form of gwyn (= white, pure, good, honest, sincere) as a final element in some compounds

croenwyn white-skinned
pobl groenwyn white people (croen = skin) + soft mutation + (gwyn = white)

2 used as a final element in some male forenames (= white, fair, blessed)
Aelwyn (ael = brow, forehead)
Brynwyn (bryn = hill) (but also a place name (meaning?) in Pont-y-pŵl, and in Llanddewi Rhos Ceirion / Much Dewchurch)
Carwyn (car- stem of caru = to love)
Meirwyn (probably based on the name Meirion)

Sometimes after a place name element which is feminine:
Caerwyn (caer = fortress)
Derwyn (possibly derw oak trees, the singulative of which is derwen oak tree)
Glanwyn (glan = seashore, riverbank) (though this is in fact probably the adjective glân = pure)
Rhoswyn (rhos = moorland, highland) (also a street name (meaning = ?) in Efail-wen, south of Mynydd Preseli, county of Penfro)
Rhydwyn (rhyd = ford) (unless this is the place name Rhydwyn in Ynys Môn)

In the case of a in the penultimate syllable, there is vowel affection a > e through the influence of the y in the final syllable
Cf the adjective berwyn (= white-peaked) < barwyn (bar = peak) + soft mutation + (gwyn = white)

Glenwyn < *glanwyn (glân = pure, good, honest, sincere) + (-wyn)
Medwyn < *madwyn (mad = good) + (-wyn)
Cerwyn < carwyn (car- = loved, root of caru = to love) + (-wyn)

There is though a Llangerwyn near Llandudno, and as a given name it may be this saint’s name; this saint’s name might have a different derivation to the one given above.

See -wen
:_______________________________.

wyna <UI-na> [ˡʊɪna] (verb sense objecte)
1 lamb = (ewe) give birth
Tymor wyna oedd yr adeg orau’r flwyddyn yn ôl taid.
The lambing season was the best time of the year according to Grandad

ETYMOLOGY: (wyn = lambs) + (-a suffix for forming verbs, especially with the sense of collecting, hunting)
:_______________________________.

Wyndraeth ‹WIN-draith› [ˡwɪndraɪθ]masculine noun
1 man’s name (Professor Wyndraeth Morris-Jones, in the list of members in “The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion” 1961 / Part 1)

ETYMOLOGY: apparently a form with soft mutation of Gwyndraeth “white sands” (gwyn- <Ə> [ə] < gwyn <Ə> [ə] = white) + soft mutation + (traeth = beach, sands, sandflats);

or from a reformation of the name Gwendraeth a river in Caerfyrddin, with gwyn / wyn (a masculine form, = white) taking the place of gwen (a feminine form = white), to make it more suitable as a male forename,

or it could be from a locality with a place name Y Traeth Gwyn, the white sands, for example
..a/ Y Ceinewydd SN3859, Ceredigion
..b/ near Llangoed SH6079, Ynys Môn
..c/ Portmeirion SH5837,Gwynedd
..d/ Tyddewi SM7525, Penfro
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wyneb, wnynebau <UI-neb, ui-NEE-bai, -be> [ˡʊɪnɛb, ʊɪˡneˑbaɪ, -ɛ] (masculine noun)
1 face

2 yn wyneb haul llygad goleuni in broad daylight (“in (the) face (of) (the) sun (in) (the) eye (of) light”)

3 wyneb yn wyneb <UI-neb ən UI-neb> [ˡʊɪnɛb ən ˡʊɪnɛb] (adverb) face to face

4 torri’ch trwyn i ddial ar eich wyneb to cut off your nose to spite your face (“cut off your nose to get-revenge on your face”) seize an opportunity to do something which will harm your rival / adversary / enemy though it causes yourself a great deal of harm too, if not more than that meted out to the rival

5 wyneb blwyddyn spring (“(the) face (of) year”)

Colloquially also gwyneb blwyddyn
Bernir y bydd yma ugeiniau o anifeiliaid wedi marw eisiau bwyd cyn gwyneb blwyddyn.
It is thought that scores of animals here will have starved to death before spring
(Letter from G.R. Roberts, Scott County, Tennessee in November 1863; Cofiant y Tri Brawd / E Pan Jones / 1892 / tudalen 105)

6 dal blawd wyneb put on a bold face

7 talwyneb façade
“front-face” (tâl = front, forehead) + (wyneb = face)

:_______________________________.

wynog <UI-nog> [ˡʊɪnɔg] adjective
1 abounding in lambs

In place names
Hafodwynog “(highland) summer holding abounding in lambs”
(This element is sometimes found as -wenog / weunog / -wnnog)

..a/ Abersychan (county of Torfaen)

..b/ Caeo (county of Caeryrddin)

..c/ Castell-nedd

..d/ Llandysiliogogo (county of Ceredigion)

..e/ Llan-giwg (county of Castell-nedd ac Aberafan)

..f/ Llansanffráid (SN5167) localitat (county of Ceredigon)

..g/ Lledrod (county of Ceredigion)

..h/ Melinau (county of Penfro)

..i/ Tre-lech (county of Caeryrddin)

..j/ (farm name in Uwchygarreg (SH7693) 9km south of Machynlleth (district of Maldwyn, in the county of Powys) = “upland farm abounding in lambs”), on maps with the local pronunciation Hafodwnog (reduction of the diphthong wy in the tonic syllable > w)
(Noted in “HAFOD and HAFOTY in Welsh Place-names” / Melville Richards)

:_______________________________.

Wyoming <wai-O-ming> [waɪˡɔmɪŋ]
1 a county in Pennsylvania, USA
According to 'We the People - an Atlas of America's Ethnic Diversity' (Author: James Paul Allan, Year: 1988, Publishers: Macmillan), Wyoming county in Pennsylvania (in which the town of Tunkhannok is situated) is the county in the United States with the fifth-highest percentage of people who state they are of Welsh ancestry (1.42%).

The others are:
..1/ Oneida county, Idaho (11.76%)
..2/ Jackson county, Ohio (2.59%)
..3/ Lackawanna county, Pennsylvania (1.72%)
..4/ Luzerne, Pennsylvania (1.63%);

The figures are based on single-ancestry replies in the 1980 census

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..1 ŵyr <UIR> [ʊɪr] masculine noun
PLURAL wyrion <UIR-yon> [ˡʊɪrjɔn]
1 grandson
gor-ŵyr great-grandson

ETYMOLOGY: Welsh < British;
Related words: Irish ó < ua (= grandson; originalment descendent)
Cf Latin puer (= child; son) Greek pais, paidós (= child)

:_______________________________.

..2 wyr <UIR> [ʊɪr] verb
1 soft-mutated form of gwyr he / she / it knows
ni wyr (he doesn’t know / she doesn’t know) is colloquially wyr e ddim / wyr hi ddim
Wyr e ddim beth yw beth he has no idea baout anything, he’s got no idea about what’s what

:_______________________________.

wyrcws <WƏR-kus> [ˡwərkʊs] masculine noun
1 (History) workhouse = an institution supported by taxpayers in a parish where paupers who were fit for work were interned and obliged to carry out unpaid work

Mae'r gostyngiad yn y prisie wedi gyrru sawl ffarmwr i'r wyrcws
The slump in prices has driven many farmers to the workhouse

ETYMOLOGY: English workhouse. In modern English the pronunciation is {wǿə’khaus}, but the Welsh word supposes an older pronunciation in English {wǿərkus}. In modern English the word has been recomposed giving the full pronunciation to the two elements "work" and "house"

:_______________________________.

wyres <UI-res> [ˡʊɪrɛs]feminine noun
PLURAL wyresau <ui-RE-sai, -se> [ʊɪˡrɛsaɪ, -ɛ]1 granddaughter

ETYMOLOGY: (wyr = grandson) + (-es suffix to indicate a female)

:_______________________________.

wyrfa <WƏR-va> [ˡwərva] feminine noun,
1 (South Wales) soft-mutated form of gwyrfa, a colloquial form of göoerfa (= cool place, shady place)
yr öoerfa > y wyrfa
In Rugos (county of Rhondda Cynon Taf) there is a farm called Wyrfa Uchaf

:_______________________________.

wyrglodd <WƏR-glodh> [ˡwərlɔð] (f)
1 (South Wales) soft-mutated form of gwyrglodd, a variant form of gweirglodd (qv) (= hay meadow)

:_______________________________.

wyrion <UIR-yon> [ˡʊɪrjɔn] (plural noun)
1 (plural form) See: wyr <UIR> [ʊɪr] = grandson
:_______________________________.

wyrlad <WƏR-lad> [ˡwərlad] (f)
1 (South Wales) soft-mutated form of gwyrlad, a variant form of gweirglodd (qv) (= hay meadow)
:_______________________________.

wyrlod <WƏR-lod> [ˡwərlɔd] feminine noun
1 soft-mutated form of gwyrlod, south-eastern form of gweirglodd (= meadow)

..1) (y weirglodd ddu = the black meadow)
Y Wyrlod-ddu
farm north of Cefncoedycymer (county of Merthyrtudful) on the road to Aberhonddu

..2) (pen y weirglodd = the end of the meadow)
Penywyrlod
(a) farm by Rowlstone, Herefordshire, England;
(b) farm by Yr Hengastell, by the river Mynwy north of Llanfihangel Crucornau (county of Mynwy)

:_______________________________.

-wys <UIS> [ʊɪs] suffix
1 Powys (name of a western county) < British < Latin pâg-ês-es < pâg-êns-es
(= country dwellers) < pâgus (= village). Cf Welsh pagan < English pagan < Church Latin pâgânus (= civilian, a person who is not a soldier of Christ) < (country dweller, villager) < pâgus (= village)

The exact sense of Powys is possibly “inhabitants of the open country”, since it is an area of
uplands bounded by mountains to the north, west and south

2 it occurs in a handful of words:

GWENT (region in the south-east)

Gwennwys (plural) the people of Gwent; (singular) a person from Gwent
Gwnhwyson the people of Gwent
Gwenhwyseg dialect of Gwent

MÔN (island in the north-west; Anglesey)

Monwys the people of Môn
Monwyson the people of Môn (double plural)
Monwysion the people of Môn (double plural)
Monwysiaid the people of Môn (double plural)

LLOEGR (England)

Lloegrwys the people of England, the English

ETYMOLOGY: Latin –êns-es

:_______________________________.

Wysg <UISK> [ʊɪsk] (feminine noun)
1 river in the south-east. Englished name – Usk

Casnewydd ar Wysg “(the) Casnewydd which is on the river Wysg”.

cas newydd < castell newydd = new castle
English name: Newport

:_______________________________.

wystrysen ‹ui-strə-sen› FEMININE NOUN
PLURAL FORM wystrys ‹uis-tris›
1 oyster
2 wystrysen berlog pearl oyster

:_______________________________.

wyt ‹UIT› (verb)
1 you are ('thou art')
2 are you?
3 (answer) yes, you are

:_______________________________.

wyt ti? = a wyt ti? ‹UI ti› (verb)
1 are you?

:_______________________________.

wyth ‹UITH› (masculine noun)
1 eight

:_______________________________.

wythfed ‹UITH ved› (adjective)
1 eighth

:_______________________________.

wythnos ‹uith nos› FEMININE NOUN
PLURAL FORM wythnosau ‹uith no se›
1 week

ETYMOLOGY: 'eight nights'; (wyth = eight) + (nos = night)

Celtic Religion in Pre-Christian Times / Author: Edward Anwyl / Year 1903 / p.67: For the Celt the year began in November, so that its second half-year commenced with the first of May. The idea to which Cæsar refers, that the Gauls believed themselves descended from Dis, the god of the lower world, and began the year with the night, counting their time not by days but by nights, points in the same p. 67direction, namely that the darkness of the earth had a greater hold on the mind than the brightness of the sky. The Welsh terms for a week and a fortnight, wythnos (eight nights) and pythefnos (fifteen nights) respectively confirm Cæsar’s statement.

Cf Dorset dialect (south-western England), where seven nights are equivalent to a week: Zennit, Zennight, seven night; "This day zennit." http://home.clara.net/anvil/DORSET.pdf
:_______________________________.

wythnos y glas ‹uith-nos ə glaas› feminine noun
1 freshers' week, the first week of a university year when stands of university clubs and associations offer information about themselves and special social events are organised for 'freshers' (new students).

ETYMOLOGY: ("(the) week (of) the novice / fresher") (wythnos = week) + (y = definite article) + (glas = fresher, novice; literally "green person, inexperienced person")

:_______________________________.

wythochrog ‹uith-OKH-rog› adj
1 octagonal, eight-sided

capel wythochrog an octagonal chapel

ETYMOLOGY: “eight sided” (wyth = eight) + (ochrog = sided)

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X, x ‹eks› feminine noun
1) ex, twenty-fourth letter of the twenty-six letter Roman alphabet
(Welsh name: ecs ‹eks›, plural ecsys, ecsiau ‹ek-sis, ek-sye›)
...1 a, 2 b, 3 c, 4 d 5 e, 6 f, 7 g, 8 h, 9 i, 10 j, 11 k, 12 l, 13 m, 14 n, 15 o, 16 p, 17 q, 18 r, 19 s, 20 t, 21 u, 22 v, 23 w, 24 x, 25 y, 26 z
2) (does not appear in the twenty-nine letter Welsh alphabet)

1 letter (name: ecs = ex) the shape of the twenty-second letter of the Greek alphabet, khi (khai), representing the sound ‹kh›
This letter used to represent ‘Christ’ as it is the first letter of ‘Khristos’ (XPISTOS)

2 letter (name: ecs = ex) used to refer to something shaped like a letter x
croesffordd ar ffurf x
a crossroad shaped like a letter x

3 letter (name: ecs = ex) cinema classification – denotes a film unsuitable for under-eighteens
tystysgrif X = X certificate
ffilm X = X film

4 letter (name: ecs = ex) Person whose identity is unknown
Mr. X Mr. X
bywyd ac amserau X the life and times of X

5 letter (name: ecs = ex) something unknown
Rhaid canfod beth yw'r ffactor X sydd yn achosi y sefyllfa siomedig hon
We need to find out what the factor X is which is causing this disappointing situation

6 letter (name: ecs = ex) something identified by contrasting it with the letter ‘y’ or the letters ‘y’ and ‘z’
crómosom x, crómosom ecs x chromosome (a fertilised egg with two x chromosome develops into a female; an x with a y becomes a male)

7 letter (name: ecs = ex) Roman numeral = 10)

8 symbol (name: croes = cross) kiss

9 symbol (name: croes = cross) to mark a place on a map
Mae croes y dynodi’r fan An X marks the spot

10 symbol (name: croes = cross) (voting) used to indicate a choice of candidate

11 symbol (name: croes = cross) (exams) used to indicate an error

12 symbol (name: croes = cross) mark or signature of an illiterate person

13 symbol (name: ecs = ex) Mathematics: unknown quantity
buddsoddi x o filoedd o ewros
invest x thousand euros

14 symbol (name: ecs = ex) Mathematics: a variable in algebra

pelydr x, pelydr ecs = (1) x ray; (2) also x-ray = x-ray photo
(So called by W.C. Röntgen in 1895 after the algebraic symbol x, meaning an unknown quantity).

15 symbol (name: ecs = ex) Mathematics: echelin x, echelin ecs x-axis, horixontal axis of a graph

16 symbol (name: croes = cross) Mathematics: in multiplication
3 x 2 = 6, mae tair gwaith dau yn chwech, mae tri dau yn gwneud chwech three times two is six, three times two equals six, three twos are six

17 symbol (name: croes = cross) Mathematics: indicates dimensions
Cwpwrdd tridarn cynnar (48” lled x 76” uchder) (= pedair modfedd a deugain o led wrth un ar bymtheg a thrigain o uchder)
A three-part cupboard forty-eight inches wide and seventy-six inches high)

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