festa

Forms

fēsta f (genitive fēstae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin festum (“feast, holiday”), whose plural ⟨fēsta⟩ was taken as a feminine singular,^[1][2] which is the noun of fēstus (“festive”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Medieval Latin word of charters, meaning a feast or festival.^[3][1]

Semantic evolution

Beside a feast or party,^[1][3] Du Cange records it for an offering made at the three chief feasts of the year.^[4] It is the source of Italian festa,^[2] Spanish fiesta and French fête.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A feast, festival, party.^[1][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) An offering made at the chief feasts of the year.^[4]

Related words

• festum
• fēstus
• Spanish fiesta

Usage notes

In Classical and Church Latin fēsta is the plural of festum, “feasts”.^[5] A different medieval festa, of Germanic origin, meant the ridge or ridge-beam of a roof.^[6][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill