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This is an old revision of the document!
also English keywords often used in Mabinogi Studies.
(GPC) Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (Welsh University Dictionary)
ModW = Modern Welsh.
| A | |
| aberth | a sacrificing or offering, sacrifice; victim, sacrifice, offering (also of thanks, worship, &c.); treasure, wealth, property; also fig. (GPC) [Other meanings given, religious, Christianity.] |
| amdanei | [Mod. W. am] around, round about, surrounding, on both sides (of place). (GPC) |
| angheu | [ModW. angheuol] – mortal, deadly, fatal, lethal, destructive, dangerous; mortal, subject to death; mortal (of sin); mortal, pertaining to, or characterized by, death, deathly; dead. (GPC) |
| anglot | shame, dishonour, satire. See clod. |
| anryded | [ModW. anrhydedd] honour (also as title), esteem, respect, credit, accolade, glory, dignity, rank, privilege; honours (degree course). (GPC) |
| ansyberwyt | [ModW. ansyberwyd] discourtesy, impoliteness, incivility, rudeness, uncouthness, churlishness, disagreeableness; charge of discourtesy or churlishness, discredit; wantonness, (?dict.) dishonesty; (dict.) covetousness, ungenerosity. (GPC) |
| ansawd | |
| anwybot | [Mod.W. anwybod1] ignorance, lack of knowledge; error, action committed in ignorance; (GPC) cf. wybot knowledge. |
| araf | slow (of movement, process, work, &c.), gradual; slow (of road, lane, &c.); slow, tedious, tiresome; slow or slack (of business); low or slow (of fire, &c.). (GPC) |
| arall | another, other, alternative, different, additional. (GPC) |
| aberth | a sacrificing or offering, sacrifice; victim, sacrifice, offering (also of thanks, worship, &c.); treasure, wealth, property; also fig. [Other meanings given, religious, Christianity.] |
| archolleu | (plur.) archoll, wound, cut, gash, hurt, injury, also fig. (GPC) cf. kymriw. |
| arglwyd | [ModW arglwydd] – lord, also as title, peer (of the realm), feudal lord; owner, proprietor (in the Welsh laws); also fig. (GPC |
| arglwydes | [ModW arglwyddes] – lady (female equivalent of lord), also as title, peeress, feudal lady, also fig. (GPC) |
| arglwydiaeth | [ModW. arglwyddiaeth, arglwyddïaeth] – lordship, dominion, government, rule, authority, power, also fig.; (pl.) (GPC) |
| canwelw | pale white, whitish. (GPC) |
| arnaf | – |
| arnei | [Mod.W. ar] on (surface), on top of, upon, also fig. (GPC) |
| aruchel | (very) high, tall, lofty, elevated; exalted, supreme, splendid, majestic; lofty (of language, style, feeling, &c.), sublime, noble. (GPC) |
| auory | [yfory, afory] – tomorrow. (GPC) |
| B | |
| bali | Mut. pali. |
| bechan (uechan) | little, small, minute, diminutive. (GPC) Ref. Rhiannon’s ‘little bag’. |
| bedestric, pedestric | [Mod.W. peddestrig, pedestrig] (ability to) walk, a walking, gait, going, fleetness (of foot); step; pedestrian, walker. (GPC) |
| beunoeth | every night, nightly, night by night; always, continually. (GPC) |
| blwydyn | [ModW. blwyddyn] – year, solar year, calendar year, period of twelve months; (pl.) a long time, ages; lifetime, life; (GPC) |
| brenhin, urenhin | [ModW. brenin] king, sovereign, monarch, head of region, &c., having a similar status, also as a title; a person, &c., who is regarded as the finest or most important in a given sphere, &c. (GPC) |
| brenhines, urenhines | queen, also as title, often with ref. to Mary, mother of Jesus, and fig.; goddess; queen (in cards); queen (in chess); queen bee. (GPC) |
| urethyn | [ModW. brethwyn] – woollen, cotton, &c., cloth; covering, bedspread, hanging, tapestry; also fig. (GPC) |
| brynaf | [ModW. prynaf: prynu] – to buy, purchase, exchange, redeem, ransom. (GPC) |
| bwyd | food, nourishment, meat, victuals, provisions. (GPC) |
| bwyta | [Mod.W bwytâf: bwyta, byta] to eat. (GPC) |
| byd, byt | world, earth, globe; universe; planet or other heavenly body; often fig. of realm, sphere, &c. (GPC) |
| bynnac | [ModW. bynnag, bynna] (who)soever, (what) soever. (GPC) |
| byw | 1. alive, living, having life, animate, quick, existing, actual. (GPC) |
| C | |
| caer | fort, fortress, enclosed stronghold, castle, citadel, fortified town or city. (GPC) |
| cant, can | a hundred, a host; hundredweight; percentage.(GPC) cf. cantref. |
| cantref – cant | a hundred, a host; tref – town; town centre. Ellis gives ‘unit of lordship’ (Ellis p.4, n.3) and ‘territorial division, comparable to the English hundred’. Containing 100 trefi or settlements. (Ellis p. 4, n. 4) which Jones follows (Jones, Mabinogion, footnote p. 20). However this pushes the cantref definition on to what constituted a ‘settlement’. |
| The ‘seven cantrefs’ | of ancient Dyfed are noted at the beginning of the Third Branch also (Ford, Mabinogi, 76) and Fourth Branch (Ford, Mabinogi, 91); noted by Ellis (p.74, n. 5; p.100, n.3). Also see Rhiannon’s ‘small bag’ which can contain the food andd drink of all seven cantrefs of Dyfed. (Ford, Mabinogi, p. 47) |
| canwelw | pale white, whitish. (GPC) |
| caraf, caru | to love; woo, court. (GPC) |
| carw | deer, hart, stag, fig. of lord, nobleman, patron, &c. (GPC) |
| kerdet | [ModW. cerddaf: cerdded] to walk, journey, travel, approach, traverse, march, go, move. (GPC) |
| charueidrwyd | [ModW. carueiddrwydd] – love, affection, kindliness. |
| chedymdeithon | [ModW. cedymdeith, cedymeith, cedymdeithas –> cydymaith, cydymddaith, cydymdaith] – fellow-traveller; accomplice; companion, associate, comrade, fellow; (title of a) vademecum, chapbook.(GPC) |
| cherdeu | [ModW. cerdd] – song, poem; art of poetry; music; musical instrument. (GPC) |
| chyffes, cyffes, nghyffes | confession, acknowledgement, avowal, admission; profession of faith, declaration of creed, doctrine, &c. (GPC) |
| chyuedach | [ModW. ] – feast, banquet, merriment, carousal, revelry, dissipation, debauchery; companionship, company. (GPC) |
| ci | hound, sing. cwn, plur. |
| cig | meat; flesh; |
| claerwyn | (claer+gwyn) shining or brilliantly white, pure white, radiant; deathly pale, pallid (of complexion). (GPC) |
| clod | praise, fame, renown, reputation, honour; credit. (GPC) cf. anglot shame, dishonour, satire. |
| clusteu | [Mod.W. clust] – the ear, fig. and transf. for sense of hearing, attention, willingness to listen, &c. (GPC) |
| cochet, coch | red, ruddy, scarlet, bloody; ginger (of hair); brown. |
| cochyon, gochyon | [ModW. cochyn] red-haired person. [ModW. cochion: red as in red cherries] |
| coed, coet | forest, wood, trees; shrubs; timber, pieces of wood; sticks to support peas, beans, &c. (GPC) |
| corff, gorff | 2a. body; the trunk; bodice; corpse. (GPC) |
| corn, gorn | horn, antler; tentacle, antenna. (GPC) chorn canu – horn + canu, sing, call, sound, so calling horn, hunting horn. |
| coronawc | [ModW. coronaf: coroni] to crown (a king, bard, &c.), cap. (GPC) |
| cwn, gwn | (ci, sing.) dog, hound, cur, often fig. (GPC) |
| cyfarwydd, gyuarwyd | well-informed, acquainted, familiar; learned, versed, expert, skilful, proficient; well-known; skilled in magic. 1. story-teller. 2. leader, guide; well-informed person, expert. (GPC) |
| cyfranc, gyfranc | affair, concern, incident, adventure; story (of battle, &c.), tale, narrative; conversation, discussion. (GPC) |
| Cymraeg Canol | Middle Welsh. (The modern name for the language of the Mabinogi.) |
| kymriw | [ModW. cymriw] – bruise, wound. (GPC) cf. archolleu |
| kynnedyf | (ModW. cynneddf) – faculty, natural endowment; attribute, quality, peculiarity, characteristic; moral quality, trait of character; nature, disposition; custom, usage, practice, habit; qualification; condition; virtue. (GPC) |
| kyuoeth | [MW. cyfoeth, cywoeth, cywaeth, cyweth] – a. wealth, riches, opulence, affluence. b. power, authority, sovereignty, puissance, dominion, marvellous or miraculous power, c. territory, land, country, kingdom, domain; people or subjects of a realm. (GPC) |
| cyntaf, kyntaf | b) first, foremost, chief, principal; pristine. (GPC) |
| cysgu, kysgu | [ModW. cysgu gan (genthi, &c.), cysgu gyda] to sleep with (her), cohabit, marry. (GPC) |
| kyuanned | [ModW. cyfannedd] – dwelling-place, habitation, abode; inhabited or cultivated place; dwelling, occupation; inhabitant; settler. (GPC) |
| D, E, F. Ff | |
| deu | [ModW. dau] – two; both; pair, couple. (GPC) |
| deccaf | [ModW. tecâf: tecáu] to make or become fair or fine, beautify, adorn, decorate, embellish. (GPC) |
| dewred | [ModW. dewredd] – bravery, courage, valour, prowess, might. (GPC) |
| diarchenu, diarchenaf | to take off one’s boots or shoes. (GPC) |
| Dioer | certain, doubtless, true, by heaven. (GPC) |
| dissymlaf | [ModW. disymlaf: disymlo] – to degrade, humiliate. (GPC) cf. Manawydan. |
| Duw, duw | a) God, the Supreme Being, the Almighty, the Christian Trinity. c) god (sometimes goddess) of the Gentile or pagan religions, supernatural or superhuman being often worshipped by means of an image or idol; person’s real object of worship, person or thing regarded as a supreme good and served with complete self-devotion; sometimes fig. of a despotic ruler, &c. (GPC) |
| dyd | [Mod.W. dydd] – day, time of daylight (as distinguished from or opposed to night); light (as opposed to darkness, &c.), also fig. (GPC) |
| dylyedauc | [Mod.W. dyledig, dylyedig] – worthy, fitting, noble. (GPC) |
| dyrnaut | [ModW. ] – to thresh, thrash; beat, drub, thump. (GPC) |
| dywedut | [Mod.W. dywedaf: dywedyd, dywedud, dweud, dywedwyd] – to say, speak, utter, express, declare, state, make known, announce; speak (a language); assert, allege; treat (of); tell, relate, say or recite. (GPC) |
| edrych | regard; appearance. (GPC) |
| eil | [ModW. ail] – second (ordinal). (GPC) |
| eiroet | [ModW. erioed, eirioed, eiroed, &c.] ever (in time past), from the beginning, from everlasting, always, at all times (in the past); (with neg.) never (with ref. to the past), at no time, in all one’s life. (GPC) |
| eisted | [Mod.W. eisteddaf: eistedd, eiste] to sit, be seated, kneel (occas. in Medieval Welsh); exercise judicial authority, &c., sit in judgement; be in session (of law-court, &c.); rest, be still; fit well, sit (of clothes, &c.). (GPC) |
| erchlas | dapple-grey (of horse); dark blue colour. (GPC) |
| erchwys, erwys | pack of hounds; hounds, greyhounds. (GPC) |
| eureit | [Mod. W. aur] – gold, gold money or coin(s), wealth; gold (colour); gold(en). (GPC) |
| fawr, mawr | |
| frouedigaeth | [ModW. profedigaeth] – trial (of person), test, temptation; misfortune, affliction, tribulation (used esp. with ref. to bereavement). (GPC) |
| fford | road, way, street, path, passage, course, route, journey; also fig. (GPC) cf. prifford, main road (prif, first, chief) |
| G | |
| gan / can | white, shining, brilliant. [cf. gwyn. Gwyn ap Nudd?] b) white flour, bolted flour, flour; white bread, bread. |
| gedymdeithas | [ModW. cydymaith, cydymddaith, cydymdaith] fellow-traveller; accomplice; companion, associate, comrade, fellow; (title of a) vademecum, chapbook. (GPC) |
| gerennyd | [ModW. carennydd, cerennydd] – kindred, kinship, relationship, descent, affinity; friendship, love, reconciliation; kinsman, relation. (GPC) |
| gochyon | see cochyn. |
| gorff, corff | |
| gormes | oppression by an alien race or conqueror, tyranny, violence, burden, vexation, plague, pestilence; destruction, encroachment, intrusion, attack, invasion; rapacity, greed; oppressor, afflictor, enemy, attacker, encroacher; oppressive animal or monster; devourer, pillager, rapacious person or animal; huge person or thing, person or thing of unusual size; intrusive letter (in grammar). (GPC) |
| gorn | corn. |
| gorssedd, orssedd | [Mod.W. gorsedd] – a) mound of earth, tump, knoll, hillock; barrow, tumulus, grave. b) throne c) judge’s seat; assembly, gathering. (of emperor, king, &c.); throne of bishop, &c., on ceremonial occasions; chair; confessional; throne of God and Christ in glory; fig. position, office or dignity of a sovereign, &c., sovereign power and authority. c) court, hall, dwelling, place; court of law, judicial assembly, tribunal, session, judge’s seat; assembly, gathering. (GPC) |
| gossot | ModW. gosodaf: gosod, gosodi] – to put, set, lay, place; strike, thrust, pierce. (GPC |
| got | [ModW. cod] – bag, pouch, sack, poke; scrotum; pocket, purse; pod, cod, husk; blister; wind-bag of bag-pipes. (GPC) |
| guassanaeth | [ModW. gwasanaeth] – service, attendance, a ministering; office, duty, employment; homage; beneficial act, favour, kindness; use, benefit, help, public and social service. (GPC) |
| guely | [ModW. gwely] – bed (including bedstead, mattress and bedding); bedstead (only); mattress (and bed-clothes) as distinct from bedstead; sleeping-place generally, an improvised resting-place; resting-place of an animal, esp. one strewed for domestic beast, lair. (GPC) |
| gyuarwyd | see cyfarwydd. |
| gwas | 1. boy, lad, stripling, youngster, young man, sometimes fig.; also used vocatively as a familiar term implying a threat, pity, endearment, &c., according to the context (cf. the corresponding use of ‘(my) boy’, ‘(my) son’, ‘(poor) chap’, ‘(my dear) fellow’, ‘(my) lad’, &c., in English). (GPC) |
| gwineu | [ModW. gwinau]– bay, reddish brown, auburn (of hair, eyebrows, &c.), chestnut (of horses), dark red, olive, swarthy, dark; mixed, cloudy (of weather). (GPC) |
| gwisc | [Mod.W. gwisg] – dress, clothing, raiment, attire, apparel, garb, garment, robe, fig. of leaves, &c.; covering; armour, mail; envelope. |
| gwlat | [ModW. gwlad] – country, fatherland, land, province, region, district, (sometimes) county; kingdom, realm, domain. (GPC) |
| gwled | ModW. gwledd]– feast, banquet, repast; (sometimes) carousal, revelry; sumptuous meal, anything delicious to feed upon; fig. exquisite enjoyment, rich treat; also in spiritual sense. |
| gwledychu | [ModW. gwladychaf, gwledychaf: gwladychu, gwledychu] – to reign, govern, rule, hold sway; settle (dwell, reside, live) in a country. (GPC) |
| gwn | see cŵn. |
| gwnaf | [Mod.W. gwnaf: gwneuthur, gwneuthud, gwneuthu, gwneud] b. to bring about, cause, inflict (injury, &c.), cause to be, cause (one) to become, cause change in the state or quality (of a person or object). (GPC) |
| gwr | [ModW. gŵr] – man, person, anyone (the plural form, in connection with a place-name, may sometimes denote ‘people, inhabitants’); adult male human being (as distinct from woman or boy, lad, &c.); valiant warrior, brave man, hero. (GPC) |
| gwreic, wreic | [Mod.W. gwraig] female human being, adult woman (sometimes used appositionally to man. (GPC) |
| gwrogaeth | homage, allegiance, oath of allegiance, loyalty, fealty; submission, subjection; feudalism. (GPC) |
| gwybot, wybot | [ModW. gwybod, wydod] – knowledge, discretion, discernment, understanding, comprehension; information; courtesy, politeness, mannerliness; specific branch of knowledge, study, a science. (GPC) cf. anwybot, ignorance. |
| gwyn, wynnet | white, greyish-white, pale; light, shining, bright; brilliant, white-hot; silver (usually of money); (GPC) |
| gwyrda | [ModW. gwrda] nobleman, peer, chief, lord (sometimes of God and Christ); worthy man, good man, good fellow; hero. (GPC) |
| gwyr, wyr | [Mod. Welsh gŵr] – man, person, anyone (the plural form, in connection with a place-name, may sometimes denote ‘people, inhabitants’); adult male human being (as distinct from woman or boy, lad, &c.); valiant warrior, brave man, hero. |
| gyfranc, cyfranc | |
| gyuarwyd | see cyfarwydd. |
| H | |
