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Glite Dictionary
Good Friday

Good Friday

9 1.9
The Friday before Easter when Christians remember Jesus' death on a cross
  • proper noun
  • /ɡʊd ˈfraɪdeɪ/
translation icon : Viernes Santo
  • Families often gather on Good Friday for reflection and prayer as they observe the crucifixion of Christ.
  • Good Friday Agreement
  • Good Friday and Easter
  • Good Friday liturgy

Happy Good Friday and Passover to all who celebrate.

Examples

  • Part of the Good Friday Agreement.

    Academic text (2007)

  • On Good Friday 1938, Cesar Vallejo died of starvation in a gray hospital room in Paris.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Good Friday, two days before Easter, she passed away in her sleep.

    Vaxxed II: The People's Truth (2020)

  • The same dynamics influenced the peace process in Northern Ireland in the years leading up to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

    Academic text (2009)

  • On this Good Friday, we are bringing you a special show with Bishop Robert Barron.

  • I hope there's not any meat in this thing, because it's Good Friday, and you know I can't eat meat.

    Check Point (2017)

  • T. enjoyed the driver's confusion: on Good Friday, 1939, the Smithsonian would be shut in the morning.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • As such, they form the context in which the Sunningdale and Anglo-Irish Agreements were concluded and the Good Friday Agreement approved.

    Academic text (2001)

  • This Good Friday, many Christians will attend special services to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

  • On Good Friday, the church will hold a somber ceremony to remember the suffering of Jesus.

Surface Forms

Good Friday main

Morphology

good + Friday

The meaning 'the Friday before Easter commemorating the crucifixion' is not predictably derivable from the words 'good' (morally excellent) and 'Friday' (day of the week); the label is a conventional, culture-specific name for a religious observance. Cross-linguistically many languages use different terms (e.g. 'Holy Friday', 'Saint Friday'), and a B1 learner who knows the constituents but has not seen the holiday would not reliably infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Good Friday gets its name from an older use of the word Good, which meant 'holy' or 'religious' rather than 'happy'. It marks the day Christians remember Jesus' death on the cross, and people called it Good because that event is seen as bringing hope and new life.