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Christmas Cornish Phrases
Nadelik
Christmas is called "Nadelik" in Cornish. The phrase to know first is "Nadelik lowen!" (Merry Christmas!).
The Cornish Christmas greeting is Nadelik lowen, "merry Christmas". Below are the greeting, two everyday greetings for one person and for several, a toast, a New Year line for cards, and the Christmas words, all in the Standard Written Form used by the Akademi Kernewek dictionary.
Greetings
Nadelik lowen!
Merry Christmas!
The standard greeting. Lowen means "happy" or "glad".
Lowena dhis!
Greetings! (to one person)
An everyday greeting used all year, literally "happiness to you"; not a seasonal wish.
Lowena dhywgh!
Greetings! (to more than one person)
The same everyday greeting for a group or a family.
Yeghes da!
Cheers!
The toast. Speakers of Revived Late Cornish write it 'Eghes da!
For cards and messages
Bledhen Nowydh Da!
Happy New Year!
Add it after Nadelik lowen to wish a happy New Year as well.
Useful words
Dydh Nadelik
Christmas Day
Revived Late Cornish writes it Dedh Nadelik.
Tas Nadelik
Father Christmas, Santa
Tas means "father".
gwedhen Nadelik
Christmas tree
Gwedhen is "a tree", the single form of gwedh/gwydh, "trees". The dictionary gives "Christmas trees" as gwedh Nadelik (Late-based) or gwydh Nadelik (Middle-based).
war-bynn Nadelik
by Christmas
For plans and deadlines. Revived Late Cornish writes war-bydn Nadelik.
Asvens
Advent
The weeks of preparation before Christmas.
The history of Nadelik
Cornish Nadelik comes from Proto-Brythonic Nadọlɨg, itself borrowed from Latin nātālīcius, "birthday", and is the same word as Welsh Nadolig and Breton Nedeleg. Cornwall keeps its own midwinter customs. On 23 December the fishing village of Mousehole holds Tom Bawcock's Eve, remembering a fisherman said to have lifted a famine by going out in a storm. Since 2007 Penzance has held the Montol festival on 21 December, a revival of old Cornish midwinter and Christmas customs.
Common questions
How do you say Merry Christmas in Cornish?
Nadelik lowen. For the New Year, add Bledhen Nowydh Da.
Christmas in the other Celtic languages
Further reading
Cornish is on blas. now
Grammar, mutations, vocabulary, and reading with spaced repetition. The Cornish course is in the blas. app now.
Start learning CornishCornish phrases for the year ahead
Cornish phrases for everyday occasions
Sources
Every phrase and fact on this page was checked against the sources below. Last checked 2026-10-20.
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wikipedia
- Wikipedia
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): merry Christmas! Nadelik lowen! idiom
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- blas. course data
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): greetings! (to one person) lowena dhis! idiom
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): lowena n.f happiness, bliss
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): greetings! (using 2p.pl.) lowena dhywgh! idiom
- Tatoeba: Tatoeba #6044593 by Kevre, CC BY 2.0 FR
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): cheers! 'eghes da! L idiom, yeghes da! M idiom
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): Christmas day Dedh Nadelik L n.m, Dydh Nadelik M
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): Father Christmas Tas Nadelik n.m
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): tas n.m father, dad
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): Christmas trees gwedh Nadelik L n.coll, gwydh Nadelik M n.coll
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): by Christmas war-bydn Nadelik L idiom, war-bynn Nadelik M idiom
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
Credit: Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.