CWTCH

[Emyr]

How many of you are familiar with the welsh word Cwtch and what does it means to you?

[gaabi]

No one else has stepped out into the line of fire so I will - it means a sheltering or safe, loving embrace? Like a cuddle? Like I give my kids a cwtch or a cwtch from my sweetheart at the end of the day or when things are rough.

[Ian Price]

There's also the coal cwtch; a place where coal was kept for domestic use. It was usually 'out the back'.

[Wedi Gadael y Rhwydwaith]

1. "cwts(h)": a cuddle, a hug, etc., as Euros Childs sings on the Bore Da album:

Mae pawb yn y byd
ar ddiwedd y dydd
yn hoffi cwtsh

2. "cwts(h)-dan-stâr", the cupboard under the stairs

[Emyr]

It is also now in the concise Oxford Dictionary of English, cwtch now seems to have crossed Clawdd offa

[Wedi Gadael y Rhwydwaith]

And it's in the OED as both a noun and a verb; the entry for the verb lists a further meaning (though the usage still seems fairly restricted to Wales):

1921 J. A. BRADNEY in Archæologia Cambrensis 7th Ser. 1 146 Used only in English; a man orders his dog to go cwtsh in the corner. 1992 Times (Nexis) 28 Feb., You can also say, ‘cwch down’ as in ‘cwch down and sleep now’. 2001 Western Mail (Nexis) 25 Sept. 13 Dogs are sometimes told to ‘go and cwtch’.

Interesting to note the change in spelling as it moves from Welsh (with an "s(h)") to English (with a "ch"). A shame though that the OED gives little help with the etymology.

[Emyr]

Chi yn gywyr CWTSH ffordd iawn i sillafu y gair

[Sarah Owen]

I always thought Cwtch was a South Walian word. It's not used much up in the North. I thought it meant a kiss. But I can't be sure!