Meanings
- uncountableSynonym of bardcore.
When it played on-air, that particular Shakira cover ended up being our most reacted to song via the textline for the day. 'WTF's aside, the consensus was that the Tavernwave was a vibe:
2021 February 27, Olivia Ho, “What in heaven is Bardcore and why dost thou love it?”, in ABC News, archived from the original on 06 Nov 20222 more examples
Though mediaeval music covers have been around since before the pandemic, the bardcore trend - also known as tavernwave - dates back to April last year, as the world was succumbing to coronavirus.
[2021 May 12, Claire Bracken, “Shakira, but make it mediaeval: Bardcore takes today's music back in time”, in The Straits Times, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2022Set to a flute version of Teenage Dirtbag (apparently part of a growing TikTok phenomenon known as 'Bardcore' or 'tavernwave'), said teen goes on a cooking spree, pinching items from all over the land to make… another Christmas pudding.
[2022 November 4, Vicky Jessop, “Sainsbury's Christmas advert review: watching Alison Hammond work her magic is a treat”, in Evening Standard, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2022Synonyms: bardcore
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of bardcore.
Origin
From tavern + -wave (“applied to various (often very specialised) music genres, subcultures and aesthetics”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
tavernwave. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tavernwave
“tavernwave.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tavernwave. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tavernwave,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tavernwave.
Source: tavernwave on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.