carnival
English
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carnival¹
- /ˈkɑːnɪvəl/ UK
- [ˈkɑːnɪvl̩] UK
- /ˈkɑɹnɪvəl/ US
- [ˈkɑɹnɪvl̩] US
- /ˈkaːnɪvəl/ Australia
- [ˈkaːnɪvl̩] Australia
Where it comes from
From Middle French carnaval, from Italian carnevale, possibly from the Latin phrase carnem levāmen (“meat dismissal”). Other scholars suggest Latin carnuālia (“meat-based country feast”) or carrus nāvālis (“boat wagon; float”) instead. Doublet of carnaval.
noun carnivals · carnaval
- Any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent. Carnival of Brazil
- A festive occasion marked by parades and sometimes special foods and other entertainment. Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from
- A traveling amusement park, called a funfair in British English. We all got to ride the merry-go-round when they brought their carnival to town.
- A context in which transgression or inversion of the social order is given temporary license. Derived from the work of Mikhail Bakhtin. The social environment contains the ambiguous traces of carnival: it resists the ideology of capitalism and, at the same time, reproduces the capitalist social order.
- A gaudily chaotic situation. a carnival of idiocy
verb carnivals · carnivaling · carnivalling · carnivaled · carnivalled
- To participate in a carnival.
- To move about playfully or wildly. The spot is a marvel of beauty and taste; and here, where dust and sun carnivaled for so many years, thousands of every class congregate to listen each evening to music discoursed for the amusement of oi polloi.
Carnival²
Where it comes from
See carnival.
proper noun
- The season just before the beginning of the Western Christian season of Lent.
noun Carnivals
- Alternative form of carnival; especially in the sense "any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent." To the statement above we may, of course, add that a far greater number have never had the “luck” of seeing a Continental Fair;— the Carnivals of Italy, of France,—a Russian Fair,—or the Carnivals and Jahrmarkts of Germany.
Translations
Every language
noun festival held just before the beginning of Lent
| Español | carnestolendas, carnaval, antruejo, entruejo, antruido |
|---|---|
| Português | Carnaval, Entrudo |
| Français | carnaval |
| Deutsch | Fastnacht |
noun festive occasion marked by parades
| Español | carnaval, umisha, yunsa, yunce, carnestolendas |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 사육제 sayukje, 카니발 kanibal |
| 日本語 | カーニバル kānibaru, 謝肉祭 shanikusai |
| 中文 | 狂歡節 /狂欢节 kuánghuānjié, 嘉年華 /嘉年华 jiāniánhuá |
| हिन्दी | कार्निवल kārnival |
| Português | carnaval |
| Français | carnaval |
| Deutsch | Karneval, Fasching, Fastnacht |
| Italiano | carnevale |
| Ελληνικά | καρναβάλι karnaváli |
| Română | carnaval |
| Русский | карнава́л karnavál |
| Tiếng Việt | hội hóa trang, hội trá hình, các-na-van |
| العربية | كَرْنَفَال karnavāl |
| עברית | קָרְנְבָל karnevál |
noun traveling amusement park
| Français | fête foraine |
|---|---|
| Italiano | luna park, lunaparco, parco divertimenti |
Talk about this word "carnival." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/carnival. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. carnival. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/carnival "carnival." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/carnival.Cite this
@misc{carnival_2026,
title = {carnival},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/carnival},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
