GPC Welsh Dictionary

Tegan hwyaden blastig melyn a ddefnyddir yn y bath wedi ei drochi mewn swigod sebon (wablin) / a yellow rubber duck bath toy covered in soap-suds

Word of the Day: wablin geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... One name for the suds, bubbles and lather created by soap. Other forms of this word includes waplin, wabling, wablen, woblin and woblyn. Are you familiar with this word, or have you heard any other Welsh names for soap-suds?

Male hen harrier

Word of the Day bòd/boda tinwyn www.geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... Circus cyaneus, bird of prey that hunts its prey by flying low above open ground, hen harrier; also barcud glas, bòd/boda llwydlas, bòd/boda'r gwerni/wern, cudwalch yr ieir, hebog glas/llwydlas, aderyn Sant Silin.

The longest Welsh word against the horizon

Word of the Day: CYFRWNGDDAROSTYNGEDIGAETH 'intercession', geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html...
 
This is the longest word in the Dictionary, containing 21 letters, or 25 single characters.

It is found in old religious texts, as in our first quote here, where Mary 'mediates' between humanity and God.

A chessboard showing the positions in the Evans Gambit

Word of the Day: gwerin geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... – ‘the ‘men’ or pieces used in chess’ (section 2). On 27 January 1790 William Davies Evans was born in Pembrokeshire. He was a renowned chess player and best known today for the Evans Gambit.

Pretty grey and black kitten with a white chest and paws, sitting comfortably on a blanket

Word of the day: mapgath geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... A name for kitten or young cat as used by Dafydd ap Gwilym. GPC also lists 'cyw cath' and 'cathan', and the more familiar 'cath fach'.

Dwdl o galon â saeth yn torri drwyddi, gan John Jones Gellilyfdy. / A doodle of a heart with an arrow shot through the middle, drawn by John Jones Gellilyfdy.

Word of the Day: SERCH geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... - A feeling of affection, love, desire and lust. Dafydd ap Gwilym shot arrows of love ('saethau serch') at a girl, like some cupid, in order to show his love for her.
Are you celebrating Dydd Santes Dwynwen this weekend?💘

Forest dormouse / Dryomys nitedula

Word of the Day creadur www.geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... Created being or thing, creature, living thing like a person or animal, especially one of the smallest

Sbens - llun /picture Helen Allingham (1848-1926)

Word of the day: SBENS geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... : an understairs cupboard or closet. What would you call this?

SPENS (from an old English word spence), can also mean a place where drink was kept. That's probably the sense in Rhyd-spens, where there was a famous tavern for drovers.

A gate in a wire fence on a forest path

Word of the Day: iet geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html.... There are several Welsh words for a barrier placed across a gap in a wall or hedge which can be closed or opened to go into a field, garden, farmyard, &c. ’Llidiart’ has the earliest example in GPC. Use varies across different parts of Wales.

Composite picture including a b&w formal studio portrait of Talhaiarn, a sketch of the Crystal Palace, and a colourful photograph of the striking Château de Ferrieres.

Word of the day: pensaer (architect) geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... On this day in 1810, the architect and poet Talhaiarn (John Jones) was born in Llanfair Talhaearn, Denbighshire. He was involved in the construction of the Crystal Palace, London, and the Château de Ferrières near Paris.

Dyn yn sefyll ar ben pellaf y pier, ar ei ben ei hun, yn edrych allan tua'r gorwel / A man standing alone on the end of a pier, looking out to the horizon

Word of the Day: solipsiaeth (solipsism) geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... Have you ever experience the thought or feeling that you are the only being in the world you know that really exists? Solipsism is the philosophical theory that the self is all that can be known to exist.

Heather

Word of the Day grug www.geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... Calluna vulgaris, heather, ling, evergreen plant from the genus Erica that grows on mountains, heaths and moorland; heath.

Hoar-frost on oak leaves

Word of the day: llwydrew ‘hoar-frost, rime’ www.geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html....

Two large trees with completely bare branches

Word of the Day: marwfis geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... which means the dead month. It has been used in the past to refer to January, the time of year when the trees have no sap according to John Walters’ dictionary of 1794.

black and white image of a crowd of smartly dressed people watching a choir of children singing in front of the altar of a beautiful church

Word of the day: calan hen geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... 'the first day of the year according to the Old style, old New-year’s day, 12th & 13th days of January'. It is still noted in some areas.The picture shows 1961 Calan Hen celebrations at St Tysul's church, Llandysul. Photo: Geoff Charles, NLW

Olion traed yn yr eira / Footsteps in the snow

Word of the Day: crwydro (to wander, roam, stroll, gad about) geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... Whose footprints do you see wandering in the snow, and how would you describe them? The verb 'crwydro' can also mean 'to stray, go astray, deviate and digress'.

The issue that prevented the GPC app from running on some old versions of Android has been resolved. There is no need to reinstall it. An error causing a crash on launching in iOS 18.4 onwards has also been fixed. The new version is available from the App Store. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Oak apples and the gallfly that causes them

AFAL Y DERI geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... 'oak-apple’ or ‘gall-nut’.
Marble-like growths on oak trees caused by gallflies.
They are full of tannin and were used in the past to make ink - along with iron sulphate and gum arabic.
Do you have a word for them?

The three kings on their way to see baby Jesus

Word of the Day: Ystwyll geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... – the 6th of January and the end of the Christmas holidays. ‘Ystwyll’ is a borrowing from the Latin ‘stella’ and marks the three kings’ visit to baby Jesus after their journey following a star.

Word of the day: odi geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... 'Odi a wnaeth hyd y nos' (it snowed all night) according to Tudur Aled (15-16c.) There are many names for snow in the Dictionary - see how many you can find - when you have finished building your snowman, of course!

Seren ar goeden Nadolig / Star on a Christmas tree

Word of the Day: noswyl (eve) geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... It's Christmas Eve! 'Noswyl' can also mean a period of rest after finishing work, and the verb 'noswylio' comes from this name. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the GPC staff - who will be resting for the next week!

Cartoon drawing of two smiling kidneys

Word of the day: elwlen (kidney) geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... Dating from 1707, it is another name for ‘aren2’ which dates to c.1400. On this day in 1954, the first successful kidney transplant was carried out at Brigham Hospital in Boston, USA.

A colourful cockerel stepping forward

Word of the day: ymestyn (to extend) geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... On reaching the winter solstice (Alban Arthan, gorsaf haul aeaf, heuldro'r gaeaf, y byrddydd), we look forward to daylight hours extending slightly 'fesul cam ceiliog' (in short steps as taken by a cockerel).

Pibonwy ar fargod tŷ / Icicles on the eaves of a house

Word of the Day: pibonwy (icicles) geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... 'Pibonwyen' is the name for a singular icicle. First recorded in the 13th century, Dafydd ap Gwilym later refers to the pibonwy in two of his poems, and compares them to weapons of war such as knives, daggers and spears.

Bends in the River Cuckmere near Exceat

Word of the Day ystum www.geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... Gesture, movement, shape or turn, bend, change of direction. A river can form ox-bow lakes from these bends where it meanders in the meadows.

By Hassocks5489, CC0 1.0 Public Domain commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ox...

Dictionary Staff and lettering by John Jones, Gellilyfdy, 1640

Word of the day: NADOLIG LLAWEN geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html...
What greeting will you be writing in your Christmas cards this year?
Merry Christmas from the Dictionary Staff, and thank you for supporting and following us throughout the year.
(Lettering by John Jones, Gellilyfdy, 1640.)

Portrait of Thomas Pennant

Word of the Day: naturiaethwr geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html.... The naturalist Thomas Pennant died on this day in 1798. He is also famous for his tours, on horseback, in Wales and Scotland, and the books describing them.

A chestnut mare looks out over her stable door at the rain

Word of the day: gwilog geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... A less familiar name for a mare as listed in William Salesbury's dictionary of 1547. Other names found in GPC include 'ceffyles', 'gweryren', 'gwilff', and 'marches'. This mare is happy to be in her stable out of the rain!

The lyrics of Tecwyn Ifan's song: "A thrwy y cyfan hyn, boed i ti fod yn fythol wyrdd", with a misty evergreen forest as a background.

Word of the Day: bytholwyrdd, bythwyrdd geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... - as a noun, meaning an evergreen (tree). As an adjective, the word is often used figuratively for something fresh, eternal and everlasting - as heard in the lyrics of Tecwyn Ifan's song, 'Bytholwyrdd'.🌲

Rose hips on a bush

Word of the Day egroes www.geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html... Hips, berries of the rose (or wild rose)