[lent] 
| (in the Christian religion) an annual season of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday and lasting 40 weekdays to Easter, observed by Roman Catholic, Anglican, and certain other churches. |
| a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, var. of -ulent: pestilent. |
[lend] verb, lent, lend⋅ing.| 1. | to grant the use of (something) on condition that it or its equivalent will be returned. |
| 2. | to give (money) on condition that it is returned and that interest is paid for its temporary use. |
| 3. | to give or contribute obligingly or helpfully: to lend one's aid to a cause. |
| 4. | to adapt (oneself or itself) to something: The building should lend itself to inexpensive remodeling. |
| 5. | to furnish or impart: Distance lends enchantment to the view. |
| 6. | to make a loan. |
| 7. | lend a hand, to give help; aid: If everyone lends a hand, we can have dinner ready in half an hour. |
| a suffix occurring in adjectives borrowed from Latin, with the meaning “having in quantity, full of” that specified by the initial element: corpulent; fraudulent; opulent; purulent. |
| lend (lěnd) v. lent (lěnt), lend·ing, lends v. tr.
To make a loan. See Usage Note at loan. [Middle English lenden, alteration of lenen (on the model of such verbs as senden, to send, whose past participle sent rhymed with lent, past participle of lenen), from Old English lǣnan; see leikw- in Indo-European roots.] lend'er n. |
| lent (lěnt) v. Past tense and past participle of lend. |
| Lent (lěnt) n. The 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday until Easter observed by Christians as a season of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter. [Middle English lenten, lente, spring, Lent, from Old English lencten; see del-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
In Christianity, a time of fasting and repentance in the spring, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending several weeks later on Easter.
Note: To “give something up for Lent” is to abandon a pleasurable habit as an act of devotion and self-discipline.