Etymograph

English

hiraeth

Hiraeth comes from Welsh hiraeth ‘longing, nostalgia’, and goes back to Proto-Celtic *sīraxto-.

  1. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*sīraxto-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*hiraɨθ‘nostalgia, longing, yearning, homesickness’reconstructed
  3. Welshc. 1500–presenthiraeth‘longing, nostalgia’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1927same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*sīraxto-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*hiraɨθ‘nostalgia, longing, yearning, homesickness’reconstructed
  3. Welshc. 1500–presenthiraeth‘longing, nostalgia’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1927same form

Earliest quotation: 1927, Richard Humphyreys, The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion: “So this hiraeth is good in some sense ,…”

Every English word from Proto-Celtic *sīraxto-

Today it means

noun A feeling of homesickness, longing or yearning for something comfortable or familiar, especially in a Welsh context.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Celtic *sīraxto- / hiraeth

Shirt and support for this word