Carnival

How to spell carnival

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce carnival

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does carnival mean?

1. nounA public festival or amusement event with processions, music, rides, and entertainment.

Carnival in a sentence

• The town holds a summer carnival with floats and a brass band every year.

• The children spent their pocket money on rides at the travelling carnival.

Where does carnival come from?

Language of origin: Italian

Carnival reaches English through Italian carnevale, the festive season of feasting and revelry that precedes the Christian fast of Lent. The Italian word descends from Medieval Latin carnelevare, a compound of caro (stem carn-), meaning 'flesh' or 'meat', and levare, meaning 'to lift, remove, or put away'. The literal sense was therefore 'the putting away of meat', marking the moment when believers gave up rich food for the weeks of fasting ahead. English adopted the word in the sixteenth century, and over time its meaning broadened from the specific pre-Lenten festival to any large public celebration, fair, or travelling amusement show. The carn- root that means 'flesh' is the same one that lives inside carnivore and incarnate, a useful reminder that the word is spelled with an 'a' after the 'c', not the 'e' some writers expect.

How the word is built

• carn- (from Latin caro, carnem: flesh, meat)
• -val (from levare: to put away/lift)
• -al