"annual assembly of Welsh bards," 1822, from Welsh eisteddfod "congress of bards or literati," literally "a session, a sitting," from eistedd "to sit" (from sedd "seat," from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit") + bod "to be" (from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow"). The Welsh plural is eisteddfodau.
