Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An annual fast of forty days, beginning with Ash Wednesday and continuing till Easter, observed from very early times in the Christian church, in commemoration of Christ's forty days' fast (Mat. iv. 2), and as a season of special penitence and preparation for the Easter feast.
  • noun Preterit and past participle of lend.
  • noun A suffix in some adjectives of Latin origin, as flatulent, pestilent, pulverulent, turbulent, vinolent, violent, virulent, etc. It is not used in new English formations.
  • Slow; gentle; mild.
  • In music, same as lento.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Eccl.) A fast of forty days, beginning with Ash Wednesday and continuing till Easter, observed by some Christian churches as commemorative of the fast of our Savior.
  • noun (Bot.) the daffodil; -- so named from its blossoming in spring.
  • adjective obsolete Slow; mild; gentle.
  • adjective (Mus.) See Lento.
  • imp. & p. p. of lend.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Simple past tense and past participle of lend.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a period of 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday

Etymologies

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Examples

  • "It's not lent, sure enough," said Larry Hogan, with a sly grin; "it's not _lent_, for you _gave_ it to him."

    Handy Andy, Volume One A Tale of Irish Life, in Two Volumes Samuel Lover 1832

  • I dont know whats come over me A narcoleptic cloud or the fact that lent is approaching and with it the lack of carbohydrates.

    Time and Halfords Dungeekin 2009

  • Finished the sorting, Martin lent a hand in wringing the clothes.

    Chapter 16 2010

  • The last Friday of lent is traditionally a high point in the crawfish season.

    Lenten "mudbugs" 2007

  • The last Friday of lent is traditionally a high point in the crawfish season.

    Archive 2007-04-01 2007

  • If the exporter was unable to pay the tolls, Tingbin lent the money, with interest.

    How Taiwan Became Chinese 2006

  • The cobbling together of “nation” and “state” into a single term lent credence to national distinctiveness as the basis of statehood.

    The Great Experiment Strobe Talbott 2008

  • After that they decided they wanted to play CoH, so I again lent them my account to plan on.

    Neverland, Marshall Fields, friends, and games drewan 2005

  • Finished the sorting, Martin lent a hand in wringing the clothes.

    Chapter 16 1908

  • Her expression lent solemnity to the act: Mrs. Linyard had a limited but distinctive set of expressions, and she now looked as she did when the President of the University came to dine.

    The Descent of Man 1904

  • The group Vismooil’n created the two puppets as their 2019 theme for the Aalst carnival, the local edition of celebrations that take place throughout parts of Europe and Latin America annually in anticipation of Lent, the 40-day period before Easter.

    Belgian carnival float features puppets of grinning Jews, a rat and money bags - Jewish Telegraphic Agency Cnaan Liphshiz 2019

Comments

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  • The period of 40 days (not counting Sundays) prior to Easter in which Christians prepare themselves for the holy day.

    "The Teutonic word Lent, which we employ to denote the forty days' fast preceding Easter, originally meant no more than the spring season." --The Catholic Guide

    February 25, 2009

  • The English word Lent is from earlier 'lenten'. ('Lenten' is not, as it might now appear from its rare present-day use, an -en adjective formed from 'lent'.) The ecclesiastical meaning is peculiar to English; in related languages it just means "spring" (German Lenz).

    Middle English 'lenten' is from Old English lencten, apparently from "long" + either some suffix or perhaps a word for "day". The time of days lengthening?

    February 25, 2009

  • "The archbishop of the Italian city of Modena wants young Catholics to give up text messaging, social networking websites and computer games for Lent. Monsignor Benito Cocchi said foregoing the activities would help them 'cleanse themselves from the virtual world and get back into touch with themselves.' The average Italian sends 50 texts a month from their mobiles, the second highest rate in Europe, behind the UK."

    - Call to give up texting for Lent, BBC website, 4 March 2009.

    March 5, 2009

  • There's a thought. When I was a kid I gave up watching Star Trek (the TV program) for Lent. After Easter, I never went back to watching it.

    March 5, 2009

  • My spawn regularly sends about 1,500 texts a month.

    I had a friend who gave up watching "The Incredible Hulk" every year for Lent. Because she never watched it anyway. She continues to give it up for Lent every year, though it's been off the air for decades now.

    March 5, 2009

  • Yes, I remember promising to give up work when I was out of a job. ;-)

    March 6, 2009

  • "lent" in Hungarian means: downstairs, below, underneath

    August 7, 2012