What does carnival mean?

Definitions for carnival
ˈkɑr nə vəlcar·ni·val

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word carnival.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. carnivalnoun

    a festival marked by merrymaking and processions

  2. circus, carnivalnoun

    a frenetic disorganized (and often comic) disturbance suggestive of a large public entertainment

    "it was so funny it was a circus"; "the whole occasion had a carnival atmosphere"

  3. carnival, fair, funfairnoun

    a traveling show; having sideshows and rides and games of skill etc.

Wiktionary

  1. carnivalnoun

    A festive occasion marked by parades and sometimes special foods and other entertainment

  2. Carnivalnoun

    The season just before the beginning of the Roman Catholic season of Lent, when New Orleans has its Mardi Gras carnival.

  3. Etymology: From carnival

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Carnivalnoun

    The feast held in the popish countries before Lent.

    Etymology: carnaval, Fr.

    The whole year is but one mad carnival, and we are voluptuous not so much upon desire or appetite, as by way of exploit and bravery. Decay of Piety.

Wikipedia

  1. Carnival

    Carnival is a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typically involves public celebrations, including events such as parades, public street parties and other entertainments, combining some elements of a circus. Elaborate costumes and masks allow people to set aside their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity. Participants often indulge in excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods that will be forgone during upcoming Lent. Traditionally, butter, milk, and other animal products were not consumed "excessively", rather, their stock was fully consumed as to reduce waste. This festival is known for being a time of great indulgence before Lent (which is a time stressing the opposite), with drinking, overeating, and various other activities of indulgence being performed. For example, pancakes, donuts, and other desserts are prepared and eaten for a final time. During Lent, animal products are eaten less, and individuals have the ability to make a Lenten sacrifice, thus giving up a certain object or activity of desire. Other common features of Carnival include mock battles such as food fights; expressions of social satire; mockery of authorities; costumes of the grotesque body that display exaggerated features such as large noses, bellies, mouths, phalli, or elements of animal bodies; abusive language and degrading acts; depictions of disease and gleeful death; and a general reversal of everyday rules and norms. The Italian tradition of wearing masks dates back to the Venice Carnival in the 15th century, and has been an inspiration in Greek theater and Commedia dell'arte for centuries.The term Carnival is traditionally used in areas with a large Catholic presence, as well as in Greece. In historically Evangelical Lutheran countries, the celebration is known as Fastelavn, and in areas with a high concentration of Anglicans (Church of England/US Episcopal Church), Methodists, and other Protestants, pre-Lenten celebrations, along with penitential observances, occur on Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. In Slavic Eastern Orthodox nations, Maslenitsa is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent. In German-speaking Europe and the Netherlands, the Carnival season traditionally opens on 11/11 (often at 11:11 a.m.). This dates back to celebrations before the Advent season or with harvest celebrations of St. Martin's Day.

ChatGPT

  1. carnival

    A carnival is a public celebration or event that typically involves activities such as entertainment, performances, games, rides, parades, contests, and food and drink, often held annually and with a festive atmosphere. It is often associated with costumes, masks and vibrant decorations. Carnivals are generally associated with religious or cultural celebrations and are celebrated in many different ways around the world.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Carnivalnoun

    a festival celebrated with merriment and revelry in Roman Gatholic countries during the week before Lent, esp. at Rome and Naples, during a few days (three to ten) before Lent, ending with Shrove Tuesday

  2. Carnivalnoun

    any merrymaking, feasting, or masquerading, especially when overstepping the bounds of decorum; a time of riotous excess

  3. Etymology: [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.]

Wikidata

  1. Carnival

    Carnival, Carnaval, or Carnivale is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnival typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party. People often dress up or masquerade during the celebrations, which mark an overturning of daily life. Carnival is traditionally held in areas with a large Catholic and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Orthodox makeup. Protestant areas usually do not have Carnival celebrations or have modified traditions, such as the Danish Carnival or other Shrove Tuesday events. Conversely, the Philippines, a predominantly Roman Catholic country, does not have Carnival celebrations as they are more culturally influenced by neighboring Asian nations, which do not have Carnival celebrations.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Carnival

    kär′ni-val, n. a feast observed by Roman Catholics just before the fast of Lent: any season of revelry or indulgence: riotous feasting, merriment, or amusement. [It. carnevale—Low L. carnelevarium, apparently from L. carnem levare, to put away flesh.]

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. Carnival

    in Roman Catholic countries the name given to a season of feasting and revelry immediately preceding Lent, akin to the Saturnalia of the Romans.

CrunchBase

  1. Carnival

    Carnival Labs are one of the worlds leading iPhone and mobile device development teams. We’ve been developing applications since the launch of the app store.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. CARNIVAL

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Carnival is ranked #107134 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Carnival surname appeared 166 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Carnival.

    94.5% or 157 total occurrences were White.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of carnival in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of carnival in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of carnival in a Sentence

  1. Patrick Souza:

    Like soccer, Carnival is becoming a party for the rich, and that's a real shame because it's the poor who have always made up the heart of Carnival.

  2. Cormac McCarthy:

    The truth about the world, he said, is that anything is possible. Had you not seen it all from birth and thereby bled it of its strangeness it would appear to you for what it is, a hat trick in a medicine show, a fevered dream, a trance bepopulate with chimeras having neither analogue nor precedent, an itinerant carnival, a migratory tentshow whose ultimate destination after many a pitch in many a mudded field is unspeakable and calamitous beyond reckoning.

  3. Phil Mickelson:

    I know it is a fine line between testing the best players to the greatest degree and then making it carnival golf, the USGA (U.S. Golf Association) are doing the best they can to find that line, and a lot of times they do, and sometimes they cross over it.

  4. John Travolta:

    With no explanation for what theMooses condition is and boy, is whatTravoltadoing a choice Durstand his main star have, rather than giving us a character, merely offered up a hapless, carnival figure of laughable madness, alternately impossible and improbable.

  5. Carel Pedre:

    We learned political groups planned to protest in the area of the palace, on Champ de Mars, which is the same area where Carnival activities will be concentrated.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

carnival#1#8321#10000

Translations for carnival

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"carnival." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 Oct. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/carnival>.

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    a deliberately offensive act or something producing the effect of deliberate disrespect
    A rumpus
    B efface
    C famish
    D affront

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