Christian year
- noun
- /ˈkrɪs.tʃən jɪr/
:
año cristiano
- Easter is celebrated as the most significant festival in the Christian year.
- day of the Christian year
Examples
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The Christian year includes important seasons like Advent and Lent.
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Every phase of the Christian year has a double emphasis.
Academic text (2017) -
In the development of this mind, a vital part is played by the seasons of the Christian year.
Academic text (2017) -
The stress during the second half of the Christian year is on ethics rather than on events.
Academic text (2017) -
Many churches follow a calendar that marks unique events throughout the Christian year.
Synonyms
1
5.1
A yearly cycle of seasons and special days that Christians observe, like Christmas and Easter
1
3.6
A calendar showing Christian holy days, festivals, and fasting times throughout the year
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is fully compositional: 'Christian' specifies the religious domain and 'year' denotes an annual cycle, so together they naturally denote the annual cycle/festivals observed by Christians. This modifier+noun pattern is common across languages (e.g. liturgical/Christian year equivalents) and follows straightforward semantic composition that a B1 learner who knows both words can infer.
Etymology
Christian year comes from the idea of a special church calendar: a 'year' planned for Christians into seasons like Advent and Easter and into festival days. Because churches follow this repeating plan each year, the phrase means the 'annual cycle of seasons and festivals' used in church services.