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Mardi Gras
6 dictionary results for: Mardi Gras
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
Mar·di Gras       [mahr-dee grah, grah] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.the day before Lent, celebrated in some cities, as New Orleans and Paris, as a day of carnival and merrymaking; Shrove Tuesday.
2.a pre-Lenten carnival period climaxing on this day.
[Origin: 1690–1700; < F: lit., fat Tuesday]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Mar·di Gras       (mär'dē grä')  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
    1. Shrove Tuesday, celebrated as a holiday in many places with carnivals, masquerade balls, and parades of costumed merrymakers.
    2. A carnival period coming to a climax on this day.
  2. An occasion of great festivity and merrymaking.


[French : mardi, Tuesday + gras, fat (from the feasting on Mardi Gras before Lenten fasting).]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Mardi gras 
1699, from Fr., lit. "fat Tuesday," from mardi "Tuesday" (from L. Martis diem "day of the planet Mars") + gras "fat," from L. crassus, "thick." Day of eating and merrymaking before the fasting season of Lent.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
mardi gras

noun
1. the last day before Lent 
2. a carnival held in some countries on Shrove Tuesday (the last day before Lent) but especially in New Orleans 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
Mardi Gras [(mahr-dee grah)]

An annual festival held in France on the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday” — meaning it is the last opportunity to eat rich food before the fast of Lent begins. It is related to celebrations elsewhere, called “carnivals,” from the Latin words carne and vale, “meat” and “farewell,” meaning a farewell to meat before the abstinence of Lent.

Note: New Orleans, Louisiana, is famous for its Mardi Gras celebration, as is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[Chapter:] World Literature, Philosophy, and Religion


The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Mardi gras

Mar"di` gras"\, n. [F., literally, fat Tuesday.] The last day of Carnival; Shrove Tuesday; -- in some cities a great day of carnival and merrymaking.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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