cefn

See also: Cefn

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle Welsh keuen. Related to Breton kein (“back”), Cornish keyn (“back”), Gaulish Cebenna (“ridge, height”) (whence French Cévennes).

Pronunciation

• (North Wales, South Wales, standard, colloquial) IPA^(key): /kɛvn/, [ˈkʰɛvn̩]
  • (South Wales, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈkeːvɛn/, /ˈkɛvɛn/
• Rhymes: -ɛvn

Noun

cefn m (plural cefnau or cefnoedd or cefnydd)

1. (anatomy) back, rear
   1. (figuratively) back, support

      Synonyms: cefnogaeth, cynorthwywr

2. ridge

   Synonym: trum

   1. (agriculture) ridge (ploughed land between two parallel furrows)
   2. (geology) vertical furrow, fissure or fault in a rock

      Synonyms: agen, hollt

   3. garden bed

      Synonyms: gwely gardd, talwrn

   4. (biblical) furlong (unit of length equivalent to a stadion)

      Synonym: ystad

3. middle, center

   Synonyms: canol, craidd, perfedd

Derived terms

• ar gefn (“in addition to, as a consequence of, with regard to; at the expense of; on top, upon, up to”)
• cefngoch (“red-backed”)
• cefn cynhaeaf (“mid-harvest; prime of life”)
• cefn dydd; cefn dydd golau (“midday, broad daylight”)
• cefn dyn (“successful man, man of substance”)
• cefn esgid (“uppers”) (of a boot)
• cefn gefn, cefngefn (“back to back, addorsed; at variance”)
• cefn gweilgi (“mid-ocean”)
• cefn gwlad (“mid-country, heart of the countryside”)
• cefn llaw (“back of the hand; back-hander”)
• cefn lloer (“full moon; crescent of the moon, half moon”)
• cefn nos, cefn y nos (“midnight, dead of night”)
• cefn troed (“instep”)
• cefn y drin (“rearguard”)
• cefnddu (“black-backed”)
• cefnog (“backed, having a back; strong, stout brave”)
• cefnu (“forsake, abandon, back off”)
• (rugby) cefnwr (“fullback”)
• cefnwyn (“white-backed”)
• cefnwyrdd (“green-backed”)
• gwarcefn (“nape”)
• wrth gefn (“in reserve; following, in support”)
• yng nghefn (“behind one's back, underhand; following, pursuing”)

 

Related terms

• (agriculture) rhych (“furrow”)

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
cefn	gefn	nghefn	chefn
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.