cywydd means A Welsh verse form consisting of rhyming couplets written in cynghanedd. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
cywydd is pronounced /ˈkʌwɪð/.
Why “cywydd” is a great word
CYWYDD — [Noun] A strict Welsh verse form composed in rhyming couplets governed by cynghanedd, a complex system of alliteration and internal rhyme. Borrowed from Welsh cywydd, meaning 'thought, order, consistency, brightness'. Unlike the englyn, a compressed, epigrammatic stanza, or the awdl, a ceremonious, expansive ode, the cywydd is the supple workhorse of formal verse, built for narrative and meditation. It is the measured tap of a chisel on slate, the interlocked timber of a cruck-framed hall, and the bright thread of a river finding its predetermined course—a formal proof that order is not the absence of passion, but its luminous distillation and enduring fluency.
Etymology
Borrowed from Welsh.
noun
- A Welsh verse form consisting of rhyming couplets written in cynghanedd.