Mardi gras

//ˈmɑːdi ɡɹɑː// name

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative letter-case form of Mardi Gras. alt-of
  2. 2
    The day when traditionally all fat and meat in the house were finished up, before Christians were banned from eating them during Lent, which commenced the following day on Ash Wednesday.

    "Mardi-gras was ushered in with various ceremonies, offering a strange mixture of devotion and profaneness."

  3. 3
    The last day of a carnival, traditionally the celebration immediately before the start of Lent when joy would be out of place for Christians.

    "1823, Thomas Tryatall, The Parisian Carnival, read in The New Monthly Magazine, and Literary Journal, Oliver Everett, p. 90, "Masks!" exclaimed I; "why, it isn't carnival time, is it?" "To be sure 'tis," replied he, "dis is Mardi gras, de gayest of de gay days. Noting but pleasure, and fun, and hosh-posh.""

  4. 4
    A carnival.

    "Mardi Gras has been in operation here for the past two weeks, and on Monday last the Trudor sports should have commenced."

Noun
  1. 1
    a carnival held in some countries on Shrove Tuesday (the last day before Lent) but especially in New Orleans wordnet
  2. 2
    the last day before Lent wordnet

Etymology

Borrowed from French mardi gras (literally “fat Tuesday”).

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