fiesta means A religious festival.
fiesta is pronounced /fɪˈestə/.
Why “fiesta” is a great word
A lively public celebration, particularly a traditional festival or religious feast day in Spanish-speaking cultures. Borrowed from Spanish *fiesta* ("feast, festival"), from Late Latin *festa*, plural of *festum* ("feast, holiday"), from Latin *festus* ("festive, joyful"). Unlike "feast" (which centers the ceremonial meal) or "party" (a general social gathering), a fiesta implies a communal spectacle, a public release into shared rhythm. It is the syncopated crackle of firework-light on upturned faces, the brass band threading through narrow streets at dawn, and the smell of roasting meat and burning incense threading through a crowd swaying with music older than memory—a temporary, joyous argument against solitude that insists celebration belongs to everyone at once, and that joy, properly enacted, becomes a form of shared citizenship.
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish fiesta, from Late Latin festa, from the plural of festum (“feast”). Doublet of feast, fest, and fete.
noun
- A religious festival.
- A festive occasion.e.g.“Runners being chased by bulls during the San Fermin bull-running festival in Pamplona: But long working hours mean it's not all fiestas in Spain.”
verb
- To take part in a festive celebration; to party.
Words closest in meaning
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