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Webster 1913 Edition


Carnival

Car′ni-val

(kär′nĭ-val)
,
Noun.
[It.
carnevale
, prob. for older
carnelevale
, prop., the putting away of meat; fr. L.
caro
,
carnis
, flesh +
levare
to take away, lift up, fr.
levis
light.]
1.
A festival celebrated with merriment and revelry in Roman Catholic countries during the week before Lent, esp. at Rome and Naples, during a few days (three to ten) before Lent, ending with Shrove Tuesday.
The
carnival
at Venice is everywhere talked of.
Addison.
2.
Any merrymaking, feasting, or masquerading, especially when overstepping the bounds of decorum; a time of riotous excess.
Tennyson.
He saw the lean dogs beneath the wall
Hold o’er the dead their
carnival
Byron.

Webster 1828 Edition


Carnival

CARNIVAL

,

Definition 2024


Carnival

Carnival

See also: carnival

English

Proper noun

Carnival

  1. The season just before the beginning of the Western Christian season of Lent.

Noun

Carnival (countable and uncountable, plural Carnivals)

  1. Alternative form of carnival; especially in the sense "any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent."
    • 1873 April, R. H. Horne, The Great Fairs and Markets of Europe, John Holmes Agnew, Walter Hilliard Bidwell (editors), The Eclectic Magazine, New Series Volume 17: January—June 1873, page 436
      To the statement above we may, of course, add that a far greater number have never had the “luck” of seeing a Continental Fair;— the Carnivals of Italy, of France,—a Russian Fair,—or the Carnivals and Jahrmarkts of Germany.

See also

carnival

carnival

See also: Carnival

English

Noun

carnival (plural carnivals)

  1. Any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent.
    Carnival of Brazil
    Venice Carnival
  2. A festive occasion marked by parades and sometimes special foods and other entertainment.
    • 2013 June 7, David Simpson, Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
      Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.
  3. (US) a traveling amusement park, called a funfair in UK English.
    We all got to ride the merry-go-round when they brought their carnival to town.
    When the carnival came to town, every one wanted some cotton candy.

Derived terms

Translations

See also