major fast day
- noun
:
día de ayuno mayor
- Yom Kippur, a major fast day, requires total abstention from food and water.
Examples
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Of all the Jewish observances, the major fast day of Tisha B'Av is one of the most solemn.
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Many people attend synagogue on major fast days.
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He explained the differences between a major fast day and a minor fast in the Jewish tradition.
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Yom Kippur is a major fast day in the Jewish tradition.
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Yom Kippur, known as the major fast day, is a time of reflection and repentance in the Jewish faith.
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The major fast day of Tisha B'Av mourns the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem.
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On major fast days, Jewish people refrain from eating and engage in prayer and reflection.
Synonyms
1
5.9
A day when people do not eat for religious or spiritual reasons
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'major' (important) + 'fast' (to refrain from eating) + 'day' (a calendar day), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer it means an important day of fasting. While the precise reference to specific Jewish holidays (Yom Kippur or Tisha B'Av) is cultural knowledge beyond word meanings, the core compositional sense is immediately comprehensible.
Etymology
Major fast day is a simple phrase from Jewish practice that names a main day when people fast. 'To fast' means to stop eating and drinking for prayer and reflection, for example Yom Kippur or Tisha B'Av. That's why the phrase means 'one of the two principal days of fasting'.