Meanings
lent1
plural lents
- countableuncountableAlternative letter-case form of Lent.
- participlepastsimple past and past participle of lend
Lent2
plural Lents
- ChristianityA period of the ecclesiastical year preceding Easter, traditionally involving temporary abstention from certain foods and pleasures.
Hezekiah gave up vaping for Lent.
- CatholicismThe 46 days preceding Easter, reckoned as 40 days by excluding Sundays.
1 more example
This Tuesday and Wednesday, four holidays from different cultures and religions overlap in a rare calendar year. The celebrations of Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) and Lunar New Year both occur on Tuesday, Feb. 17 [2026]. This won't happen again until Feb. 13, 2029, according to the websites chinahighlights.com and mardigrasneworleans.com. Ramadan is expected to start Tuesday evening, pending official confirmation, and Lent ([which begins on] Ash Wednesday) begins on Feb. 18. Last year, Ramadan and Lent began within a week of each other on Feb. 28 and March 5. The holidays are all happening within two days this year because several long solar, lunar and lunisolar calendar cycles sync up. Lunar New Year happens on the second new moon after winter solstice, which is also Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) — 47 days before Easter Sunday.
2026 February 16, Alicia Eler, “Lunar New Year, Ramadan and Lent in rare alignment this year. The holidays follow different solar and lunar calendars, but some of them sync up in 2026”, in Minnesota Star Tribune, archived from the original on 16 Feb 2026
- UKabbreviationellipsiseducationEllipsis of Lent term.
Synonyms: Lententide, Lent season, Lenten season, season of Lent, Quadragesima, Great Lent, Lent term
- MyanmarBuddhismvassa, period of the Buddhist lent during the rainy season
Lent3
Synonyms & antonyms
nounEllipsis of Lent term.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Lent · noun
- Proto-West Germanic*langatīn“spring”
- Old Englishlencten
- EnglishLent
Shortened form of Lenten, from Old English lencten, from Proto-West Germanic *langatīn (“spring”), as in a season into which days lengthen as it progresses. Cognate with Alemannic German langsé, Langssi (“spring”), Bavarian longas, lòngas, longast (“spring”), Cimbrian langaz, langhes, långez (“spring”), lentz (“March”), Dutch lente (“spring”), German Lenz, Lenze (“spring”), Mòcheno langes (“spring”).
More words from Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Lent · proper noun
- GermanLenth
- Dutchvan Lent
- EnglishLent
Two main origins: * Reduced form of Dutch van Lent, a habitational surname for someone from Lent, in Gelderland. * Perhaps an Americanized spelling of German Lenth, from a personal name related to the noun Land.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic الصَّوْم الْأَرْبَعِينِيّ, اَلصَّوْم اَلْكَبِير
- الصَّوْم الْأَرْبَعِينِيّ (aṣ-ṣawm al-ʔarbaʕīniyy)Christian period of penitence before Easter
- اَلصَّوْم اَلْكَبِير (aṣ-ṣawm al-kabīr)Christian period of penitence before Easter
Basque Garizuma
- GarizumaChristian period of penitence before Easter
Bulgarian Вели́к по́ст
- Вели́к по́ст (Velík póst)Christian period of penitence before Easter
Catalan Quaresma, quaresma
- QuaresmaChristian period of penitence before Easter
- quaresmaChristian period of penitence before Easter
Chinese Mandarin 大齋期 /大斋期, 四旬节
- 大齋期 /大斋期 (dàizhāiqī)Christian period of penitence before Easter
- 四旬节 (sìxúnjié)Christian period of penitence before Easter
- 四旬節 /四旬节Christian period of penitence before Easter
Czech velký půst, postní doba
- velký půstChristian period of penitence before Easter
- postní dobaChristian period of penitence before Easter
Danish faste
- fasteChristian period of penitence before Easter
Dutch veertigdagentijd, vastentijd
- veertigdagentijdChristian period of penitence before Easter
- vastentijdChristian period of penitence before Easter
Esperanto Fastsezono, Karesmo
- FastsezonoChristian period of penitence before Easter
- KaresmoChristian period of penitence before Easter
Finnish paasto, paastonaika
- paastoChristian period of penitence before Easter
- paastonaikaChristian period of penitence before Easter
- suuri paastoChristian period of penitence before Easter
French carême
- carêmeChristian period of penitence before Easter
German Fastenzeit
- FastenzeitChristian period of penitence before Easter
Greek Σαρακοστή, Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή
- Σαρακοστή (Sarakostí)Christian period of penitence before Easter
- Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή (Megáli Tessarakostí)Christian period of penitence before Easter
Hawaiian Kalema
- KalemaChristian period of penitence before Easter
Hebrew הַתַּעֲנִית
- הַתַּעֲנִית (hata'anít)Christian period of penitence before Easter
Hindi चालीसा काल
- चालीसा काल (cālīsā kāl)Christian period of penitence before Easter
Hungarian nagyböjt
- nagyböjtChristian period of penitence before Easter
Indonesian Prapaskah
- PrapaskahChristian period of penitence before Easter
Irish Carghas
- CarghasChristian period of penitence before Easter
Italian Quaresima
- QuaresimaChristian period of penitence before Easter
Japanese 四旬節
- 四旬節 (shijunsetsu)Christian period of penitence before Easter
Korean 사순절
- 사순절 (sasunjeol)Christian period of penitence before Easter
Latin quādrāgēsima
- quādrāgēsimaChristian period of penitence before Easter
Latvian Lielais gavēnis
- Lielais gavēnisChristian period of penitence before Easter
Lithuanian Gavėnia
- GavėniaChristian period of penitence before Easter
Malay Pra-Paskah
- Pra-PaskahChristian period of penitence before Easter
Norwegian Bokmål faste, fastetid
- fasteChristian period of penitence before Easter
- fastetidChristian period of penitence before Easter
- langfasteChristian period of penitence before Easter
Persian چله روزه
- چله روزه (čelle ruze)Christian period of penitence before Easter
Polish Wielki Post
- Wielki PostChristian period of penitence before Easter
Portuguese quaresma
- quaresmaChristian period of penitence before Easter
Romanian postul mare, postul Paștelui
- postul mareChristian period of penitence before Easter
- postul PașteluiChristian period of penitence before Easter
- postul PaștilorChristian period of penitence before Easter
- păresimiChristian period of penitence before Easter
- PăresimiChristian period of penitence before Easter
Russian Вели́кий пост
- Вели́кий пост (Velíkij post)Christian period of penitence before Easter
Scottish Gaelic Carghas
- CarghasChristian period of penitence before Easter
Slovak Veľký pôst
- Veľký pôstChristian period of penitence before Easter
Spanish Cuaresma
- CuaresmaChristian period of penitence before Easter
Swahili kwaresima
- kwaresimaChristian period of penitence before Easter
Swedish fastan, påskfastan
- fastanChristian period of penitence before Easter
- påskfastanChristian period of penitence before Easter
Tagalog Kuwaresma, Kurisma
- KuwaresmaChristian period of penitence before Easter
- KurismaChristian period of penitence before Easter
Turkish Büyük Perhiz
- Büyük PerhizChristian period of penitence before Easter
Ukrainian Вели́кий піст
- Вели́кий піст (Velýkyj pist)Christian period of penitence before Easter
Vietnamese Mùa Chay
- Mùa ChayChristian period of penitence before Easter
Welsh Grawys
- GrawysChristian period of penitence before Easter
Yiddish פֿאַסטצײַט, גרויסער פּאָסט
- פֿאַסטצײַט (fasttsayt)Christian period of penitence before Easter
- גרויסער פּאָסטChristian period of penitence before Easter
- פּאָסטצײַט (posttsayt)Christian period of penitence before Easter
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with lent
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
lent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lent
“lent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lent. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lent,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lent.
Source: lent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.