Meanings
plural Maslenitsas
- uncountableusuallyAn East Slavic festival of pre-Christian origin celebrated during the last week before Lent, seven weeks before Easter; analogous to Shrovetide.
In pre-revolutionary Russia the pagan associations had already been lost to a large extent, and Maslenitsa had become a popular communal, jolly celebration dedicated to the seeing-off of winter.
1981, Christel Lane, The Rites of Rulers: Ritual in Industrial Society – the Soviet CaseSynonyms: Butter Week, Cheese Week
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounAn East Slavic festival of pre-Christian origin celebrated during the last week before Lent, seven weeks before Easter; analogous to Shrovetide.
Origin
- RussianМа́сленица
- EnglishMaslenitsa
Borrowed from Russian Ма́сленица (Máslenica).
More words from Russian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 謝肉節 /谢肉节
- 謝肉節 /谢肉节 (Xièròujié)East Slavic festival analogous to Shrovetide
Russian Ма́сленица, ма́сленица
- Ма́сленица (Máslenica)East Slavic festival analogous to Shrovetide
- ма́сленица (máslenica)East Slavic festival analogous to Shrovetide
Ukrainian Масниця
- Масниця (Masnycja)East Slavic festival analogous to Shrovetide
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
Maslenitsa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maslenitsa
“Maslenitsa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maslenitsa. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Maslenitsa,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maslenitsa.
Source: Maslenitsa on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.