festa

See also: Festa, fèsta, fësta, and fešta

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian, Catalan, Portuguese, and Maltese festa. Doublet of fete, fiesta, feast, and fest.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛstə/
• Rhymes: -ɛstə

Noun

festa (plural festas)

1. A public holiday or feast day in Italy, Portugal, etc.

Anagrams

• fetas, TAFEs, Feast, feats, Fates, feast, fates, atefs

Basque

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish fiesta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fes̺ta/ [fes̺.t̪a]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -es̺ta, -a
• Hyphenation: fes‧ta

Noun

festa inan

1. feast, festival

   Synonyms: besta, jai

2. party, partying

   Synonym: parranda

Declension

Declension of festa (inanimate, ending in -a)

	indefinite	singular	plural
absolutive	festa	festa	festak
ergative	festak	festak	festek
dative	festari	festari	festei
genitive	festaren	festaren	festen
comitative	festarekin	festarekin	festekin
causative	festarengatik	festarengatik	festengatik
benefactive	festarentzat	festarentzat	festentzat
instrumental	festaz	festaz	festez
inessive	festatan	festan	festetan
locative	festatako	festako	festetako
allative	festatara	festara	festetara
terminative	festataraino	festaraino	festetaraino
directive	festatarantz	festarantz	festetarantz
destinative	festatarako	festarako	festetarako
ablative	festatatik	festatik	festetatik
partitive	festarik	—	—
prolative	festatzat	—	—

Derived terms

• festa egin
• festa-egun (“holiday”)
• festaburu
• festazale (“partygoer”)

Further reading

• “festa”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “festa”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin fēsta, from the plural of Latin fēstum. Compare Occitan fèsta or hèsta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈfes.tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfes.ta]
• Rhymes: -esta

Noun

festa f (plural festes)

1. celebration; party

Derived terms

• festaire
• festejar
• fester
• festívol
• festós

Related terms

• festí
• festiu
• festival
• festivar
• festivitat

Further reading

• “festa”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April
• “festa”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “festa” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “festa” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfesta/
• Rhymes: -esta
• Hyphenation: fes‧ta

Adjective

festa (accusative singular festan, plural festaj, accusative plural festajn)

1. festive

Fala

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese festa, from Late Latin fēsta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfesta/
• Rhymes: -esta
• Syllabification: fes‧ta

Noun

festa f (plural festas)

1. party
2. festivity, holiday

   Synonyms: festividai, fistiviai, fistividai

Related terms

• festival (“festival”)
• festividai (“festivity”)
• festivu (“festive”)
• fistival (“festival”)
• fistiviai (“festivity”)
• fistividai (“festivity”)
• fistivu (“festive”)

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[1], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse festa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɛsta]

Verb

festa (third person singular past indicative festi, third person plural past indicative fest, supine fest)

1. to fasten, to make fast

Usage notes

• festa fót (“make a settlement”)

Conjugation

Conjugation of festa (group v-9st)

infinitive	festa
supine	fest
	present	past
first singular	festi	festi
second singular	festir	festi
third singular	festir	festi
plural	festa	festu
participle (a5)1	festandi	festur
	imperative
singular	fest!
plural	festið!

¹Only the past participle being declined.

Franco-Provençal

Noun

festa (Old Beaujolais, Old Dauphinois)

1. Alternative form of féta (“party, celebration”)

References

• festa in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “fĕsta”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 3: D–F, page 482

Galician

San Sebastian's festa, Aldán, Galicia

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese festa, from Late Latin fēsta, from the plural of Latin fēstum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɛs̺tɐ]

Noun

festa f (plural festas)

1. festival

   Synonyms: feira, festival

2. party

   Synonym: esmorga

3. holiday; festivity

   Synonyms: día de festa, día festivo, día santo

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “festa”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “festa”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “festa”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “festa”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “festa”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛsta/
• Rhymes: -ɛsta

Etymology 1

From Old Norse festa.

Verb

festa (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative festi, supine fest)

1. to fasten [with accusative]
2. to determine, fix, settle [with accusative]

Conjugation

festa – active voice (germynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að festa
supine sagnbót		fest
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		festandi
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	festi	festi		festi	festi
	þú	festir	festir		festir	festir
	hann, hún, það	festir	festi		festi	festi
plural	við	festum	festum		festum	festum
	þið	festið	festuð		festið	festuð
	þeir, þær, þau	festa	festu		festi	festu
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	fest (þú), festu
plural	þið	festið (þið), festiði1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

festast – mediopassive voice (miðmynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að festast
supine sagnbót		fest
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		festandist (rare; see appendix)
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	festist	festist		festist	festist
	þú	festist	festist		festist	festist
	hann, hún, það	festist	festist		festist	festist
plural	við	festumst	festumst		festumst	festumst
	þið	festist	festust		festist	festust
	þeir, þær, þau	festast	festust		festist	festust
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	fest (þú), festu
plural	þið	festist (þið), festisti1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

festur — past participle (lýsingarháttur þátíðar)

strong declension (sterk beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	festur	fest	fest	festir	festar	fest
accusative (þolfall)	festan	festa	fest	festa	festar	fest
dative (þágufall)	festum	festri	festu	festum	festum	festum
genitive (eignarfall)	fests	festrar	fests	festra	festra	festra
weak declension (veik beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	festi	festa	festa	festu	festu	festu
accusative (þolfall)	festa	festu	festa	festu	festu	festu
dative (þágufall)	festa	festu	festa	festu	festu	festu
genitive (eignarfall)	festa	festu	festa	festu	festu	festu

Derived terms

• festing

Etymology 2

Noun

festa f (genitive singular festu, no plural)

1. resoluteness, steadfastness

   Synonyms: staðfesta, stöðugleiki

Declension

Declension of festa (sg-only feminine)

	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	festa	festan
accusative	festu	festuna
dative	festu	festunni
genitive	festu	festunnar

Italian

Etymology

From Late Latin fēsta, from the plural of Latin fēstus (“festive”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛs.ta/

• Audio (IT):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛsta
• Hyphenation: fè‧sta

Noun

festa f (plural feste)

1. feast
2. holiday (civil)
3. (in the plural) holidays (British), vacation (US)
4. fair (often in combination)

Descendants

• → Japanese: フェスタ
• → Maltese: festa (or from Sicilian)

Anagrams

• sfate

Italiot Greek

Etymology

From Latin festa (“party, feast”).

Noun

festa f

1. party, feast

Ladin

Etymology

From Late Latin fēsta, from the plural of Latin fēstum.

Noun

festa f (plural festes)

1. (official) holiday

Latin

Pronunciation

• fēsta: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfeːs.ta]
• fēsta: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈfɛs.t̪a]
• fēstā: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfeːs.taː]
• fēstā: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈfɛs.t̪a]

Etymology 1

From the plural of fēstum. See main entry there for more.

Noun

fēsta f (genitive fēstae); first declension

1. (Medieval Latin) party, feast

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	fēsta	fēstae
genitive	fēstae	fēstārum
dative	fēstae	fēstīs
accusative	fēstam	fēstās
ablative	fēstā	fēstīs
vocative	fēsta	fēstae

Descendants

See descendants under fēstum.

Etymology 2

Noun

fēsta

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural of fēstum

Adjective

fēsta

1. inflection of fēstus:
   1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

Adjective

fēstā

1. ablative feminine singular of fēstus

Ligurian

Noun

festa f (please provide plural)

1. party (a celebration)

   Émmo fæto 'na festa de Dênâ.

   We had a Christmas party.

Macanese

Etymology

From Portuguese festa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛʃtɐ/, /ˈfɛstɐ/

Noun

festa

1. party, fete, gala

   Synonym: fonçám

   festa di quebrâ testa ― big party; solemn commemoration (literally, “party of break forehead”)

   festa di fichâ ano ― birthday party

2. celebration
3. festival

   Quelê-tánto náchi-náchi na festa

   There were many Chinese people at the festival

4. (religion) feast

   missa festa ― high mass (literally, “mass feast”)

Related terms

• bô-festa

References

• https://www.macaneselibrary.org/pub/english/uipatua.htm

Maltese

Etymology

Borrowed from Sicilian festa and/or Italian festa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛːs.ta/

Noun

festa f (plural festi, diminutive festin)

1. festivity, feast

   Synonyms: festività, għors (obsolete)

2. feast, celebration, party
3. name day
4. holiday, vacation

Related terms

• festiv
• festività
• ffesteġġja
• fottifesti (“killjoy”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• festet

Verb

festa

1. inflection of feste:
   1. simple past
   2. past participle

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse festa, from Proto-Germanic *fastijaną. Factitive of fast (“(stead)fast”).

(rent farming land): Calque of Danish fæste.

Alternative forms

• feste (e- and split infinitives)

Verb

festa (present tense festar or fester, past tense festa or feste, past participle festa or fest, present participle festande, imperative fest)

1. to fasten, to make fast
2. to rent a farming land, to copyhold

   Synonym: bygsla

Related terms

• fast
• fest f
• feste n

Etymology 2

From fest +‎ -a, the first part being derived from Latin festum.

Alternative forms

• feste (e- and split infinitives)

Verb

festa (present tense festar, past tense festa, past participle festa, passive infinitive festast, present participle festande, imperative festa/fest)

1. to party

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Alternative forms

• festi (non-standard since 2012)

Noun

festa

1. definite singular of fest f
2. definite plural of feste n

References

• “festa” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• faste

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɸʲesta]

Etymology 1

From earlier fecht (“occasion”) +‎ -sa (“this”).

Adverb

festa

1. now, forthwith
2. henceforth

Derived terms

• feasta

Etymology 2

Verb

·festa

1. second-person singular past subjunctive/conditional prototonic of ro·finnadar

Mutation

Mutation of festa

radical	lenition	nasalization
·festa	·ḟesta	·festa pronounced with /-β(ʲ)-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *fastijaną.

Verb

festa (past participle festr)

1. to fasten

Conjugation

Conjugation of festa — active (weak class 1)

infinitive	festa
present participle	festandi
past participle	festr
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	festi	festa		festa	festa
2nd person singular	festir	festir		festir	festir
3rd person singular	festir	festi		festi	festi
1st person plural	festum	festum		festim	festim
2nd person plural	festið	festuð		festið	festið
3rd person plural	festa	festu		festi	festi
imperative	present
2nd person singular	fest, festi
1st person plural	festum
2nd person plural	festið

Conjugation of festa — mediopassive (weak class 1)

infinitive	festask
present participle	festandisk
past participle	festzk
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	festumk	festumk		festumk	festumk
2nd person singular	festisk	festisk		festisk	festisk
3rd person singular	festisk	festisk		festisk	festisk
1st person plural	festumsk	festumsk		festimsk	festimsk
2nd person plural	festizk	festuzk		festizk	festizk
3rd person plural	festask	festusk		festisk	festisk
imperative	present
2nd person singular	festsk, festisk
1st person plural	festumsk
2nd person plural	festizk

Descendants

• Icelandic: festa
• Faroese: festa
• Norwegian Nynorsk: festa (“to fasten”)
• Swedish: fästa
• Danish: fæste
  • Norwegian Bokmål: feste (“to fasten, to copyhold”)
  • → Norwegian Nynorsk: festa (“to copyhold”)

Etymology 2

Related to Etymology 1 above ("fasten").

Noun

festa f (genitive festu)

1. bail, pledge

Declension

Declension of festa (weak ōn-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	festa	festan	festur	festurnar
accusative	festu	festuna	festur	festurnar
dative	festu	festunni	festum	festunum
genitive	festu	festunnar	festna	festnanna

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

festa

1. inflection of festr:
   1. strong feminine accusative singular
   2. strong masculine accusative plural
   3. weak masculine oblique singular
   4. weak feminine nominative singular
   5. weak neuter singular

Noun

festa

1. genitive plural indefinite of festr

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “festa”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Anagrams

• efast, stefa

Portuguese

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese festa, from Late Latin fēsta, from the plural of Latin fēstum.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛs.tɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛs.tɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛʃ.tɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛs.ta/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛʃ.tɐ/

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -ɛstɐ, (Portugal, Rio de Janeiro) -ɛʃtɐ
• Hyphenation: fes‧ta

Noun

festa f (plural festas)

1. party

   Vamos começar a festa. ― Let's get the party started.

   A festa acabou. ― The party's over.

2. celebration
3. festival
4. (religion) feast
5. caress

   Synonyms: carícia, afago, carinho, mimo, festinha

   Fazer festas ao gato. ― Pet the cat.

Derived terms

• arroz de festa
• fazer a festa
• festa americana
• festa de quinze anos
• festa do sacrifício
• festa junina
• festança
• festão
• festim
• festinha
• festona
• jesta julina

Related terms

• festejar
• festival
• festividade
• festivo
• Oktoberfest

Descendants

• Kabuverdianu: festa
• Macanese: festa
• → Bengali: ফেস্তা (phesta)
• → Konkani: फेस्त (phesta)
• → Malay: pesta
  • Indonesian: pesta
• → Sranan Tongo: fesa
  • → Dutch: fissa
• → Tetum: festa

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

festa

1. inflection of festar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “festa”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “festa”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025

Romagnol

Alternative forms

• fësta

Etymology

Inherited from Latin festa (“feast”).

Pronunciation

• (Central Romagnol): IPA^(key): [ˈfɛːstɐ]

Noun

festa f (plural fest) (Faenza)

1. feast, festival

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfesta/ [ˈfes.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -esta
• Syllabification: fes‧ta

Noun

festa f (plural festas)

1. obsolete spelling of fiesta

Further reading

• “festa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Etymology

From fest +‎ -a.

Pronunciation

Homophone: fästa

Verb

festa (present festar, preterite festade, supine festat, imperative festa)

1. to party (to celebrate at a party)

   Synonyms: partaja, kalasa

Conjugation

Conjugation of festa (weak)

	active		passive
infinitive	festa		festas
supine	festat		festats
imperative	festa		—
imper. plural1	festen		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	festar	festade	festas	festades
ind. plural1	festa	festade	festas	festades
subjunctive2	feste	festade	festes	festades
present participle		festande
past participle		—

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

References

• festa in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• festa in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• faste

Ternate

Etymology

From Portuguese festa, from Latin fēstum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfes.ta]

Noun

festa (Jawi فست)

1. a party, celebration, feast day

Alternative forms

• pesta

Derived terms

• festa sara toca (“the candle lighting celebration”)

References

• Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq (1890) Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate, E.J. Brill
• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh