overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

festival.

Pertaining to a feast or feast day; festive. (Now only as the noun used attributively.)

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈfɛstɪvəl/Received-Pronunciation[ˈfɛstɪvl̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈfɛstəvəl/General-American[ˈfɛstəvl̩]General-American
  1. Pertaining to a feast or feast day; festive. (Now only as the noun used attributively.)

Where this word comes from

From Middle English festival (adjective), from Old French festival (“festive”), from Late Latin fēstīvālis, from Latin fēstīvus (“festive”). By surface analysis, festive + -al. Displaced native Old English frēols. The noun is shortened from festival day, from Middle English festival dai, festiuall day (“feast day, festival”).

noun/ˈfɛstɪvəl/Received-Pronunciation[ˈfɛstɪvl̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈfɛstəvəl/General-American[ˈfɛstəvl̩]General-American
  1. A feast or feast day.

    countable · uncountable
  2. An event or series of special events centred on the celebration or promotion of some theme or aspect of the community, often held at regular intervals.

    countable · uncountable
    The Reading and Leeds festivals take place on the August bank holiday.
    A Welsh eisteddfod is a literary festival.
  3. In mythology, a set of celebrations in the honour of a god.

    countable · uncountable
  4. Fried cornbread.

    Caribbean · Jamaica · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English festival (adjective), from Old French festival (“festive”), from Late Latin fēstīvālis, from Latin fēstīvus (“festive”). By surface analysis, festive + -al. Displaced native Old English frēols. The noun is shortened from festival day, from Middle English festival dai, festiuall day (“feast day, festival”).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

festival has 8 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

festival studiofestival workshello, festival

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.