carnival English · revision 157
5 Oct 2026, 22:07 by bogdan “Add pronunciation, sense history, timeline, meanings, word family, related words” current version
Changes in this edit
@@ -1,6 +1,31 @@
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈkɑːnɪvəl/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkɑɹnɪvəl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+
==Etymology==
− First recorded in the 1540s^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) for the time of merrymaking before Lent,^(Etymonline) [[bor|it|carnevale]] (partly via [[fr|carnaval]]),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) an alteration of earlier Italian ''carnelevare'' “removal of meat”,^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''carne'' “flesh” ([[la|carō]]) + ''levare'' “to remove”, from [[la|levāre|t=to raise, lift]].^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD) The name originally belonged to the eve of Ash Wednesday, when meat was put away.^(OED 1989)
+ It is [[bor|it|carnevale]] (partly via [[fr|carnaval]]),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) an alteration of earlier Italian ''carnelevare'' “removal of meat”,^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''carne'' “flesh” ([[la|carō]]) + ''levare'' “to remove”, from [[la|levāre|t=to raise, lift]].^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD) The popular derivation from Medieval Latin ''carne vale'' “flesh, farewell!” is a folk etymology.^(Etymonline)
− The popular derivation from Medieval Latin ''carne vale'' “flesh, farewell!” is a folk etymology.^(Etymonline) The sense “circus or amusement fair” is attested by 1926 in American English.^(Etymonline)
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The season of merrymaking and feasting before Lent (1540s).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The name originally belonged to the eve of Ash Wednesday, when meat was put away.^(OED 1989) From the 1590s it was used figuratively of any feasting or revelry,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and by 1926, in American English, of a travelling amusement show or fair.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1549 – “the season before Lent”.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1598 – any feasting or revelry.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1605 – adjective use.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1926 – a circus or amusement fair, in American English.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A festival of merrymaking and feasting before Lent.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A travelling amusement show with rides, games, and sideshows.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Any festival or revelry, or an instance of riotous excess.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[carnivalesque]]
+ * [[precarnival]]
+ * [[carny]]
+ * [[carnival glass]]
==References==