Skip to main content
Lententide

Lententide

9.9
A forty weekday period before Easter when Christians fast and pray
  • noun
  • /ˈlɛntənˌtaɪd/
  • Archaic
translation icon : Cuaresma
  • Many villages once observed Lententide with communal fasting and prayer.

Examples

  • During Lententide, many people choose to fast.

  • The traditions associated with Lententide have changed greatly over the centuries.

  • During Lententide, the church bells were rung in the early mornings.

  • What are your plans for Lententide this year?

  • Many villages once observed Lententide with communal fasting and prayer.

  • During Lententide, the church bells were rung in the early mornings.

  • What are your plans for Lententide this year?

Synonyms

Lent
vsLententide
1 6.0

A period of about forty days before Easter when Christians fast and pray

is the same forty weekday period described as the named season

Surface Forms

Lententide singular
Lententides plural

Morphology

Lententide = Lenten (semi-transparent) = Lenten + tide

The composition 'Lenten' + '-tide' directly signals the time of Lent, but the suffix '-tide' meaning 'time/season' is archaic/rare and may be unfamiliar to some learners.

Etymology

The word Lententide comes from the old English lencten, meaning 'spring' and related to lengthen ('to make longer'), plus tide, meaning 'time' or 'season'. So Lententide originally meant the 'spring season' and now names the forty weekdays of fasting we call Lent.