Carnival

carnival English thumb|Carnival in Rome, 1650 Etymology See en carnival. Proper noun The season just before the beginning of the Western Christian season of Lent. Noun ~ en 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 en Mardi Gras / en mardi gras Further reading