Tywysog in modern Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

, means "Prince

Prince

Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...

", although historically it referred to a broader category of rulers. The feminine form is Tywysoges. The work Brut y Tywysogion

Brut y Tywysogion

Brut y Tywysogion is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae. Brut y Tywysogion has survived as several Welsh translations of an original Latin version, which has...

 is the Annals of the Princes of Wales and is a historical narrative of the deeds of the various rulers of the kingdoms, large and small, which existed in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 from the end of Roman rule in Britain in c.410AD to the final conquest of Wales and the death of its last consecrated native Tywysog Llywelyn ap Gruffudd of Gwynedd

Kingdom of Gwynedd

Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...

 in 1282, who was also the first to bear the title Tywysog Cymru (Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...

). Owain Glyndŵr

Owain Glyndwr

Owain Glyndŵr , or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by William Shakespeare as Owen Glendower , was a Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales...

, Lord of Glyndyfrdwy, and heir to the Kingdom of Powys, was also proclaimed Tywysog Cymru in 1400 but his rule had come to an end by 1412.

Tywysog is cognate with taoiseach

Taoiseach

The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

in Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

 and tòiseach in Scottish Gaelic; the latter forms an element in "MacIntosh" (Mac an Tòisich) (see Clan Mackintosh

Clan MacKintosh

Clan Mackintosh is a Scottish clan from Inverness with strong Jacobite ties. The Mackintoshes were also chiefs of the Chattan Confederation.-Origins:...

). Both words originally had a similar meaning in the Goidelic languages to tywysog, with taoiseach coming to mean the Irish head of government, and tòiseach a Scottish clan chief. The word tywysog itself derives from Welsh tywys "to lead", so the literal meaning of tywysog is "one who leads".

In modern Welsh the word tywysog can be used to refer to any prince.