What does siesta mean?
Word: Siesta
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Siesta means a short sleep or rest taken after the midday meal, a habit in some hot countries.
Synonyms: nap, rest
Word origin: Comes from Spanish, which took it from the Latin word sexta.
How do you spell siesta?
Syllables: si - es - ta
Tricky part: The stress falls in the middle of the word, and the two vowels at the start are easy to swap: the i comes before the e.
Watch out for: seista, seesta
Memory tip: Sleep In the Early afternoon: the first letters of those words, S, I and E, start the word in the right order.
Siesta in a sentence
Example 1: Grandma likes a short siesta on the balcony on summer afternoons.
Example 2: In the summer heat, the whole village seemed to take a siesta, and the streets went quiet.
Example 3: We were so tired after a morning at the zoo that we all had a siesta before dinner.
Fun Fact
In parts of Spain, especially in smaller towns, many shops still close for a few hours in the early afternoon and open again in the evening, a habit linked to the siesta.
Practise the CREST Way
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option:
Siesta goes back to the Latin phrase sexta hora. What does that phrase mean?
a) a quiet corner
b) the evening meal
c) the hottest month
d) the sixth hour
Show answer
d) the sixth hour. Counted from sunrise, the sixth hour of daylight fell around midday, the time people rested.
Word Champ
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
sies___
a) ta
b) tah
c) tar
d) ter
Show answer
a) ta. The weak sound at the end is written with a plain a, as in many words taken from Spanish.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with their meanings:
1. siesta 2. hammock 3. lullaby a. a soft song sung to help a baby fall asleep b. a nap taken while the afternoon sun is strongest c. a bed of net or strong cloth hung between two posts or trees
a) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
b) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
c) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
d) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
Show answer
a) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a. A siesta is the nap itself, a hammock is something you might nap in, and a lullaby is a song that helps a baby drift off.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which sentence uses siesta correctly?
a) The whole town danced at the siesta held in the main square.
b) The siesta of the song was very easy to remember.
c) After a long morning walk, Dad had a siesta on the sofa.
d) We cooked a siesta of rice and beans for dinner.
Show answer
c) After a long morning walk, Dad had a siesta on the sofa.
2. After lunch, Uncle Raj said he was ready for his siesta. What did he most likely do next?
a) washed all the lunch dishes
b) dozed in his chair for half an hour
c) phoned a friend for a long chat
d) went out for a long bike ride
Show answer
b) dozed in his chair for half an hour
