Michaelmas Day
- noun
- UK
:
Día de Micael
- Celebrations for Michaelmas Day often include feasts and church services.
Examples
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Rent payments were traditionally due on Michaelmas Day during the medieval period.
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Many universities in the UK begin their academic year after Michaelmas Day.
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We celebrate Michaelmas Day with a special feast.
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On Michaelmas Day, many people attend church services.
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Many universities in the UK begin their academic year after Michaelmas Day.
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Celebrations for Michaelmas Day often include feasts and church services.
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On Michaelmas Day, many people attend church services.
Synonyms
A Christian festival on September 29 that honours the angel Michael and marks a traditional day when rents were due
A church feast day in England, Wales, and Ireland celebrating the angel Michael and marking a traditional quarter day
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly compositional: 'Michaelmas' names the feast of St Michael and 'day' marks the calendar day for that observance, so the overall meaning ('the day of Michaelmas, Sept 29') follows straightforwardly from the parts. Although the referent is culturally specific, a B1 learner who already knows both constituent words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Michaelmas Day comes from the old church mass for the archangel Michael held on September 29. Because people planned important things like rent payments and the start of the school year around that 'feast day', Michaelmas Day came to mean the important date itself.
