cefn

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle Welsh keuen, from Proto-Celtic *kebno- (“back”), related to Breton kein (“back”), Cornish keyn (“back”), Gaulish Cebenna (“ridge, height”) (whence (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French Cévennes).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɛvn/
• IPA^(key): /kɛvn/, [ˈkʰɛvn̩]
  • IPA^(key): /ˈkeːvɛn/, /ˈkɛvɛn/

Noun

cefn m (plural cefnau or cefnoedd or cefnydd)

1. back, rear; (figuratively) support, second; body as needing clothing, etc.
2. support, ridge; butt of ploughed land between two parallel furrows; opening furrows of such a butt; (biblical) furlong; vertical fissure or fault in a rock
   1. garden bed
3. middle, centre

Derived terms

• ar gefn (“in addition to, as a consequence of, with regard to; at the expense of; on top, upon, up to”)
• 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”)
• wrth gefn (“in reserve; following, in support”)
• yng nghefn (“behind one's back, underhand; following, pursuing”)

 

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.

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “cefn”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies