Etymograph

English

fiesta

Fiesta comes from Spanish fiesta ‘party’, from Late Latin festum ‘feast’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁stos.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁stos1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θēstos1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fēstos1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēstus2‘feast-like’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfestum3‘feast’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfesta3‘party, feast’plural of festum
  7. Old Spanishc. 950–1500fiesta4
  8. Spanishc. 1500–presentfiesta3‘party’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1983fiesta3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin festus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin festum
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English fiesta
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Spanish fiesta
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1983, Lionel Richie, All Night Long: “We're going to party, karamu, fiesta, forever”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁stosWiktionary, Latin festusreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θēstosWiktionary, Latin festusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fēstosWiktionary, Latin festusreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēstusWiktionary, Latin festum‘feast-like’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfestumWiktionary, English fiesta‘feast’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfestaWiktionary, English fiesta‘party, feast’plural of festum
  7. Old Spanishc. 950–1500fiestaWiktionary, Spanish fiesta
  8. Spanishc. 1500–presentfiestaWiktionary, English fiesta‘party’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1983fiestaWiktionary, English fiesta. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1983, Lionel Richie, All Night Long: “We're going to party, karamu, fiesta, forever”

Linked words

through Latin fēstus ‘feast-like’

festival, festive, festivity, 6 more

through Late Latin festum ‘feast’

fest, 2 more

through Late Latin festa ‘party, feast’

feast, fete, 3 more

Today it means

noun A religious festival.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fiesta”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin festus, Latin festum, Spanish fiesta. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁stos / fiesta

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