English Explanatory Dictionary

carnival

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent.
  2. A festive occasion marked by parades and sometimes special foods and other entertainment.
  3. A traveling amusement park, called a funfair in British English.
  4. A context in which transgression or inversion of the social order is given temporary license. Derived from the work of Mikhail Bakhtin.
  5. A gaudily chaotic situation.
verb
  1. To participate in a carnival.
  2. To move about playfully or wildly.
name
  1. The season just before the beginning of the Western Christian season of Lent.
noun
  1. Alternative form of carnival; especially in the sense "any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent."

Pronunciation

/ˈkɑːnɪvəl/ [ˈkɑːnɪvl̩] LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-carnival.wav /ˈkɑɹnɪvəl/ [ˈkɑɹnɪvl̩] LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-carnival.wav /ˈkaːnɪvəl/ [ˈkaːnɪvl̩]

Word forms

carnival carnivals carnaval carnivaling carnivalling carnivaled carnivalled

Etymology

From Middle French carnaval, from Italian carnevale, possibly from the Latin phrase carnem levāmen (“meat dismissal”). Other scholars suggest Latin carnuālia (“meat-based country feast”) or carrus nāvālis (“boat wagon; float”) instead. Doublet of carnaval.

Related words

Mardi Gras

Derived words

blog carnival carnivalesque carnival glass carnivalic carnivalistic carnivalize carnivallike carny noncarnival precarnival surf carnival winter carnival
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