Although I’m not particularly interested in Etymology, I found this fascinating! Someone asked what the meaning/origin of the word CARNIVAL is. You might think of meat when you think carnival, since it sounds like “carnivore” (meat-eating creatures). The interesting reason behind that being, that although the word carnival designates a time of feasting and fun, it actually means “put the meat away” for Lent, which is a period of prayer and often fasting before Easter. So the “carnival” was a celebration right before the fasting period. During this celebration they would eat a lot of meat and be merry, as they would not be eating meat during Lent in religious observance and praying almost constantly. So they called this festival called it carne (meat) vale (farewell) – Late Latin. Later it was adapted to carnival which was used to describe any type of elaborate celebration.

























































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