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Glite Dictionary
St Patty's Day

St Patty's Day

3.7
A holiday on March 17 that celebrates Irish people and culture
  • noun
  • /seɪnt ˈpætiʤ deɪ/
  • Informal
translation icon : Día de San Patricio
  • Many people wear green and attend parties on St Patty's Day.

Examples

  • We're planning to go out and watch the parade on St Patty's Day.

  • Every year, the city hosts a big festival for St Patty's Day.

  • I love celebrating St Patty's Day with my friends.

  • Will you attend the parade for St Patty's Day?

  • Many people wear green and attend parties on St Patty's Day.

  • Every year, the city hosts a big festival for St Patty's Day.

  • I love celebrating St Patty's Day with my friends.

Synonyms

Saint Patrick's Day
vsSt Patty's Day
4 2.9

A holiday on March 17 when people celebrate Saint Patrick and Irish culture

is an informal casual variant instead of the formal commemorative name
St Patrick's Day
vsSt Patty's Day
2.0

A public holiday on 17 March when people celebrate Irish culture by wearing green and joining parades

uses an informal playful name rather than a neutral public title

Surface Forms

St Patty's Day singular
St Patty's Days plural

Morphology

St + Patty's + day

The structure 'St' (saint) + a possessive name + 'day' transparently signals a day associated with a named saint, so a learner who knows those words will infer it's a named holiday. However, 'Patty' is an informal/colloquial shortening of 'Patrick' and the specific cultural reference to St. Patrick and Irish celebrations is not fully derivable from the parts, so the meaning is only partially predictable.

Etymology

St Patty's Day may come from people shortening St. Patrick to Patty in casual speech, which makes a quick, friendly name for the holiday. That's why St Patty's Day is an informal way to say the March 17 celebration that 'honors Irish culture'.