Meanings
adjectivefestival (comparative more festival, superlative most festival)
comparative more festival · superlative most festival · alternative obsolete feastiuall
- Pertaining to a feast or feast day; festive. (Now only as the noun used attributively.)
the temple of the Gods […] / Whom all the people decke with girlands greene, / And honour in their festiuall resort […]
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
nounfestival (countable and uncountable, plural festivals)
plural festivals · alternative obsolete feastiuall
- countableuncountablebiblicalA feast or feast day.
All your males are to appear three times a year before the Lord your God in the place He chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. No one is to appear before the Lord empty-handed.
2009, “Deuteronomy 16:16”, in Holman Christian Standard Bible
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan organized series of acts and performances (usually in one place)
Similar
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinfēstīvus“festive”
- Late Latinfēstīvālis
- Old Frenchfestival“festive”
- Middle Englishfestival
- Englishfestival
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”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans fees
- feesevent or community gathering
Ancient Greek πανήγυρις
- πανήγυρις (panḗguris)event or community gathering
Arabic عِيد, مَهْرَجَان
- عِيد (ʕīd)event or community gathering
- مَهْرَجَان (mahrajān)event or community gathering
Basque jai
- jaievent or community gathering
Bengali উৎসব
- উৎসব (utśob)event or community gathering
Bulgarian пра́зненство, фестива́л
- пра́зненство (práznenstvo)event or community gathering
- фестива́л (festivál)event or community gathering
- пра́зник (práznik)event or community gathering
Catalan festival
- festivalevent or community gathering
Chinese Mandarin 節慶 /节庆, 節日 /节日
- 節慶 /节庆 (jiéqìng)event or community gathering
- 節日 /节日 (jiérì)event or community gathering
- 節 /节 (jié)event or community gathering
- 會演 /会演 (huìyǎn)event or community gathering
- 匯演 /汇演 (huìyǎn)event or community gathering
Czech festival, svátek
- festivalevent or community gathering
- svátekevent or community gathering
Danish festival
- festivalevent or community gathering
Dutch festival, feest
- festivalevent or community gathering
- feestevent or community gathering
Esperanto festivalo
- festivaloevent or community gathering
Estonian pidustused, festival
- pidustusedevent or community gathering
- festivalevent or community gathering
Finnish juhlat, festivaali
- juhlatevent or community gathering
- festivaalievent or community gathering
French festival, fête
- festivalevent or community gathering
- fêteevent or community gathering
German Festival, Fest
- Festivalevent or community gathering
- Festevent or community gathering
Greek φεστιβάλ
- φεστιβάλ (festivál)event or community gathering
Hebrew פֶסטִיבָל, חַג
- פֶסטִיבָל (festivál)event or community gathering
- חַג (khag)event or community gathering
Hindi त्योहार, जश्न
- त्योहार (tyohār)event or community gathering
- जश्न (jaśn)event or community gathering
- उत्सव (utsav)event or community gathering
- पर्व (parv)event or community gathering
- मेला (melā)event or community gathering
- ईद (īd)event or community gathering
Hungarian fesztivál, ünnepség
- fesztiválevent or community gathering
- ünnepségevent or community gathering
Icelandic hátíð
- hátíðevent or community gathering
Indonesian festival, pesta
- festivalevent or community gathering
- pestaevent or community gathering
- perayaanevent or community gathering
Irish fleá
- fleáevent or community gathering
Italian festival, mostra
- festivalevent or community gathering
- mostraevent or community gathering
- rassegnaevent or community gathering
- sagraevent or community gathering
- festivaleevent or community gathering
Japanese 祭り, 祭典
- 祭り (matsuri)event or community gathering
- 祭典 (saiten)event or community gathering
- 祝祭 (shukusai)event or community gathering
Korean 축제, 축일
- 축제 (chukje)event or community gathering
- 축일 (chugil)event or community gathering
Latin feria, festum
- feriaevent or community gathering
- festumevent or community gathering
- festivitasevent or community gathering
Latvian festivāls, svētki
- festivālsevent or community gathering
- svētkievent or community gathering
Lithuanian festivalis, šventė
- festivalisevent or community gathering
- šventėevent or community gathering
Malay perayaan, festival
- perayaanevent or community gathering
- festivalevent or community gathering
Māori taiopenga, hui taurima
- taiopengaevent or community gathering
- hui taurimaevent or community gathering
Norwegian Bokmål festival
- festivalevent or community gathering
Polish festiwal, święto
- festiwalevent or community gathering
- świętoevent or community gathering
Portuguese festival
- festivalevent or community gathering
Romanian festival
- festivalevent or community gathering
Russian фестива́ль, пра́здник
- фестива́ль (festiválʹ)event or community gathering
- пра́здник (prázdnik)event or community gathering
- пра́зднество (prázdnestvo)event or community gathering
Scottish Gaelic fèis
- fèisevent or community gathering
Slovak festival, sviatok
- festivalevent or community gathering
- sviatokevent or community gathering
Spanish festival
- festivalevent or community gathering
Swahili tamasha
- tamashaevent or community gathering
Swedish festival
- festivalevent or community gathering
Thai งานฉลอง, มหกรรม
- งานฉลอง (ngaan-chà-lɔ̌ɔng)event or community gathering
- มหกรรม (má-hà-gam)event or community gathering
Turkish festival, şenlik
- festivalevent or community gathering
- şenlikevent or community gathering
- bayramevent or community gathering
Ukrainian фестива́ль, свя́то
- фестива́ль (festyválʹ)event or community gathering
- свя́то (svjáto)event or community gathering
Urdu تِہْوار, عِید
- تِہْوار (tihvār)event or community gathering
- عِید ('īd)event or community gathering
- جَشْن (jaśn)event or community gathering
- میلَہ (mela)event or community gathering
Vietnamese ngày hội, đại hội liên hoan
- ngày hộievent or community gathering
- đại hội liên hoanevent or community gathering
- hội diễnevent or community gathering
- lễ hộievent or community gathering
- lễ tếtevent or community gathering
Welsh gŵyl
- gŵylevent or community gathering
Yiddish יאָמטעוו, פֿעסטיוואַל
- יאָמטעוו (yomtev)event or community gathering
- פֿעסטיוואַל (festival)event or community gathering
Cite this entry
APA
festival. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/festival
MLA
“festival.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/festival. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “festival,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/festival.
Source: festival on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.