:Cwtch

As there are no recognised cognates in the other Celtic languages, cwtch (also spelled as cwtsh and its earlier form cwts) is believed to be a loanword.

One etymology suggests that the word first came into Welsh usage during the Norman invasion of Wales. The Old French verb {{lang|fro|coucher}} can mean "to lay (something) down", with a related noun {{lang|fro|couche}} denoting a resting or hiding place. The noun gave rise to the Middle English word couch, but the verb may have been the more popular usage among Welsh speakers. If this derivation is correct, then the word ultimately derives from the Latin collocare, meaning place together.AMHER, couch: Middle English from Old French culche, couche > couchier, coucher.{{cite web |title=Cwtch |url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/cwtch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108092838/https://www.lexico.com/definition/cwtch |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |website=Lexico.com |access-date=23 December 2021}}

The word has been described as "impossible to translate", but concise and short English dictionaries often equate cwtch to words like cuddle, snuggle, or hug. However, these translations are considered synonymous at best and not effective translations or equivalent terms. None of the common English synonyms contain the word's evocation of a "safe place", but that aspect has persevered in a secondary definition of the word as a "hiding place, recess, or cubbyhole".{{cite web |title=What is a 'cwtch'? |url=https://www.southwales.ac.uk/story/926/ |website=University of South Wales |access-date=21 September 2021 |date=26 February 2018}}'Very few privies existed, whole rows being without one. Buckets, kept in a "cwtch" outside the back door, had to serve, the contents of which were disposed of on the nearest garbage heap or buried in gardens used over and over again for the same purpose.' {{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Oliver |title=The early days of Sirhowy and Tredegar |date=1969 |publisher=Tredegar Historical Society |location=Tredegar |page=61-62}}

This difficulty in translation and definition parallels another Welsh word, hiraeth, which often loses its original meaning of safety, childhood, or an idealized past.

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The word is not recorded in English until the late nineteenth century (despite being colloquially popular among Welsh speakers for some time). One of the most notable uses of the word in the English language was by Elizabeth Taylor, who said of her Welsh husband Richard Burton, "I just want to go and cwtch him".{{cite news |last1=Tharoor |first1=Shashi |title=Shashi Tharoor's Word of the Week: Cwtch |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/shashi-tharoor-s-word-of-the-week-cwtch/story-4rObjOr9JqMPZUg567GIKI.html |access-date=22 September 2021 |publisher=Hindustan Times |date=30 May 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Penhallurick |first1=Rob |title='Cwtch': what the most famous Welsh-English word reveals about global dialects |url=https://theconversation.com/cwtch-what-the-most-famous-welsh-english-word-reveals-about-global-dialects-98333 |website=The Conversation |access-date=23 September 2021 |date=15 August 2018}}

During the late twentieth century, the word became heavily associated with Wales and Welsh people, but in writing, the term was still most frequently found in texts and passages associated with a south Wales dialect. By the twenty-first century, the word had gained a level of understanding outside of Wales, and was popular enough in British English to be added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in 2005.{{cite news |title=English dictionary realises benefits of a cwtch |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/english-dictionary-realises-benefits-cwtch-2382878 |access-date=22 September 2021 |agency=Wales Online |date=11 August 2005}}

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Avoiding another sweaty handshake with professional colleagues is certainly no great loss, but the ban on simple physical rituals like {{notatypo|cwtching}} friends and family is.

Laura McAllister on how the Covid restrictions stopped the "physical ritual" of cwtching.{{cite news |last1=McAllister |first1=Laura |title=When this horrible time comes to an end, the best legacy for those who'll have lost their lives will be that we and our society have changed, and changed for the better |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/news-opinion/when-horrible-time-comes-end-17994606 |access-date=23 December 2021 |agency=Wales Online |date=28 March 2020}} |align=right|width=40%}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales, the word was often used in discussing the Welsh Government's social restrictions. In March 2020 Dawn Bowden AM stated that she was "feeling hugely emotional that I have no idea when I'm going to be able to cwtch my six-month-old grandson again."{{cite web |title=Plenary - Fifth Senedd |url=https://record.senedd.wales/Plenary/6266?lang=en-GB |website=Senedd Cymru |access-date=23 September 2021 |date=24 March 2020}} The Llywydd of the Senedd, Elin Jones ended the final Plenary session of the fifth Senedd (which was conducted virtually due to the government's own restrictions) by saying "I give you all a virtual cwtch, and good evening."{{cite web |title=Plenary - Fifth Senedd |url=https://record.senedd.wales/Plenary/11188 |website=Senedd Cymru |access-date=23 September 2021 |date=24 March 2021}} In criticising the Welsh Government's restrictions, Fay Jones the Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire became the first person to use the word in the British Parliament.{{cite web |title=Covid: Welsh word cwtch used in Parliament for first time |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-59957245#:~:text=The%20popular%20Welsh%20word%20cwtch%20has%20been%20used,or%20cuddle%20but%20has%20no%20literal%20English%20translation. |website=BBC |access-date=1 July 2024 |date=11 January 2022}}

London-based news services also used the word in reporting the lifting of the Welsh restrictions for a wider readership across the United Kingdom. Describing the restrictions as a "ban on having a cwtch".{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Steven |title=Tears and bear hugs as Wales lifts ban on having a cwtch |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/03/tears-and-bear-hugs-as-wales-lifts-ban-on-having-a-cwtch |access-date=23 September 2021 |agency=The Guardian |date=3 May 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Gillett |first1=Francesca |title=Covid-19: Five ways to make hugging safer, from the experts |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57083571 |website=BBC News |date=14 May 2021}}

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The word is seen as emblematic of the sociolinguistics of Wales, being a commonly understood indicator of Welsh identity and culture both inside and outside the nation. In 2007, cwtch was described as "the nation's favourite word", following a UK poll.{{cite web |title=Cwtch is nation's favourite word |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6521971.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=21 September 2021 |date=3 April 2007}}{{cite web |last1=Jacob |first1=Poppy |title=The Most Beautiful Words in the Welsh Language |url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/wales/articles/the-most-beautiful-words-in-the-welsh-language/ |website=The Culture Trip |access-date=21 September 2021 |date=16 October 2017}}

A common explanation for the word's appeal is that it fills a semantic gap, articulating an aspect of Welsh life that is not captured within the common lexicon of British English. The word has been described as linking an association with loved ones with the nation of Wales, giving a unique understanding of national identity. This popularity has, however, led to the word's commodification, with marketing campaigns, retailers and designers all using the word to emphasise Welsh cultural links. Despite this, the word still has very strong positive connotations for both Welsh and non-Welsh people.{{cite news |last1=Clark |first1=Rhodri |title=Cuddle up to cwtch, Wales' best loved word |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/cuddle-up-cwtch-wales-best-2256074 |access-date=23 September 2021 |agency=Wales Online |date=3 April 2007}}{{cite news |last1=Leaver |first1=Kate |title='Cwtch': The hug invented by the Welsh |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180624-cwtch-the-hug-invented-by-the-welsh |access-date=22 September 2021 |agency=BBC Travel |date=25 June 2018}}

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• hiraeth, a Welsh word meaning longing for a past that no longer exists, also considered untranslatable.
• hygge, a Danish and Norwegian word meaning comfortable conviviality, also considered untranslatable.

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Category:Welsh words and phrases