A Welsh concept of longing, homesickness, or nostalgia for a home to which you cannot return, or which never was — a grief for lost places and lost versions of yourself.

Considered untranslatable into English, the word encompasses grief, longing, and the bittersweet memory of belonging.

In Welsh mythology, hiraeth is specifically the cry of a heron at dusk, believed to herald the departure of a loved one's soul.

Particularly prominent in Welsh poetry and song, hiraeth underpins much of the literary tradition known as Barddoniaeth.

The word carries connotations of incompleteness and spiritual longing, sometimes translated as a wistful yearning for something beyond reach.