Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday
noun
the 7th Wednesday before Easter; the first day of Lent; the day following Mardi Gras (`Fat Tuesday'); a day of fasting and repentance
Hypernyms: ↑Christian holy day
Part Holonyms: ↑Lent, ↑Lententide

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noun [noncount]
: the first day of the Christian holy period of Lent

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ˌAsh ˈWednesday noun uncountable, countable
the first day of Lent
see also Shrove Tuesday
 
Word Origin:
[Ash Wednesday] from the custom of marking the foreheads of penitents with ashes on that day.  
Culture:
Traditionally, ↑Roman Catholics go to church on Ash Wednesday and their foreheads are marked with ashes as a sign that human bodies become dust. In the US this tradition is still widely followed. The ashes are not washed off but left to go away on their own. It is polite not to make a comment on the mark on a person’s forehead.

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ash Wednesday — • The Wednesday after Quinquagesima Sunday, which is the first day of the Lenten fast Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Ash Wednesday     Ash Wednesday      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Ash Wednesday — (englisch für „Aschermittwoch“) bezeichnet: amerikanischer Spielfilm (1973) mit Elizabeth Taylor, siehe Die Rivalin amerikanischer Spielfilm (2002) von Edward Burns, siehe Ash Wednesday (2002) Roman von Ethan Hawke, siehe Aschermittwoch (Roman)… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ash Wednesday — Wednesday Wednes day (?; 48), n. [OE. wednesdai, wodnesdei, AS. W[=o]dnes d[ae]g, i. e., Woden s day (a translation of L. dies Mercurii); fr. W[=o]den the highest god of the Teutonic peoples, but identified with the Roman god Mercury; akin to OS …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ash Wednesday — n. the first day of Lent and seventh Wednesday before Easter: so called from the practice of putting ashes on the forehead as a sign of penitence …   English World dictionary

  • Ash Wednesday — Ash Wednes day ([a^]sh w[e^]nz d[asl]). The first day of Lent; so called from a custom in the Roman Catholic church of putting ashes, on that day, upon the foreheads of penitents. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ash Wednesday — n [U and C] the first day of Lent …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Ash Wednesday — noun count or uncount the first day of LENT (=the period before Easter during which Christians traditionally eat less) …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Ash Wednesday —    Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, is so called because of the custom of receiving blessed ashes on the head as a sign of repentance. The ashes, which come from the burning of palms blessed on the previous Palm Sunday,are administered with… …   Glossary of theological terms

  • Ash Wednesday — ► NOUN ▪ the first day of Lent in the Western Christian Church. ORIGIN from the custom of marking the foreheads of penitents with ashes on that day …   English terms dictionary

  • Ash Wednesday — For other uses, see Ash Wednesday (disambiguation). Ash Wednesday A cross of ashes on a worshipper s forehead on Ash Wednesday Observed by Followers of many Christian denominations, primarily Western Christian (see below) …   Wikipedia

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