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Glite Dictionary
moveable feast

moveable feast

1 7.8
A religious holiday that changes date each year
  • noun
  • /ˈmuːvəbl fiːst/
  • UK
translation icon : fiesta móvil

Examples

  • A Moveable Feast.

    Miracles from Heaven (2016)

  • A Moveable Feast

    Blog text (7)

  • Easter is a well-known moveable feast that varies in date every year.

  • The date of Shrove Tuesday is a moveable feast that depends on when Lent begins.

  • In Christianity, Pentecost is celebrated as a moveable feast, occurring fifty days after Easter.

Synonyms

movable feast
vsmoveable feast
7.6

A religious holiday whose date changes each year

has identical meaning but uses an alternate spelling

Surface Forms

moveable feast singular
moveable feasts plural
movable feasts plural
movable feast singular

Morphology

moveable + feast

The meaning 'a religious holiday whose date changes each year' is directly derivable from combining 'moveable' (changeable/movable) with 'feast' (a celebration/holiday). This straightforward compositional relation (a feast that moves) is transparent to learners who know both constituents and is supported by cross-linguistic equivalents (e.g., movable holidays like Easter).

Etymology

Moveable feast comes from church calendars: a feast is a special holy day, and when a holiday's date 'moves' from year to year it was called a moveable feast. So, the phrase now means a holiday whose date 'changes' each year.