Etymology

Festivus

Fes·ti·vus
F4E1S1T1I1V4U1S1

Today it means: A nondenominational holiday featured in a Seinfeld episode, now celebrated (seriously or otherwise) on December 23rd. Full definition →

Latin fēstīvus
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromfēstīvus
  2. English todayFestivus

Coined by Daniel O'Keefe and popularized on the TV series Seinfeld; either borrowed from Latin fēstīvus or else derived from its English descendants festive and festival by adding the Latin suffix -us.

Words from the same roots

Latinfēstīvus all →

festivalfestive

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.