hiraeth

Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *hiraɨθ, from Proto-Celtic *sīr-axto-, akin to Gaulish siraxta (“longing”).

Pronunciation
  • (North Wales) (standard) (colloquial) IPA(key): /ˈhɪraɨ̯θ/
  • (South Wales) (standard) IPA(key): /ˈhiːrai̯θ/, /ˈhɪrai̯θ/
    • (South Wales) (colloquial) IPA(key): /ˈhiːrɛθ/, /ˈhɪrɛθ/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

hiraeth m (uncountable)

  1. homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, or for a home which may have never been
  2. an intense form of longing or nostalgia, wistfulness
  3. the grief for the lost places of your past

Usage notes

Hiraeth is a difficult word to translate precisely. It, the Cornish hireth and the Breton hiraezh are said to be the only exact equivalents of the Portuguese saudade [1].

  • hiraethu

References
  1. Williams, Robert (1865), “hiraeth”, in Lexicon Cornu-Britannicum: A Dictionary of the Ancient Celtic Language of Cornwall, in which the Words are elucidated by Copious Examples from the Cornish Works now remaining; With Translations in English​, London: Trubner & Co., page 217
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