Lexic.us

Definition of Ash Wednesday

1. Noun. The 7th Wednesday before Easter; the first day of Lent; the day following Mardi Gras ('Fat Tuesday'); a day of fasting and repentance.

Definition of Ash Wednesday

1. Noun. A Christian day of penitence, the first day of Lent. It is a movable feast which takes place 40 days before Easter (excluding Sundays). ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Ash Wednesday

1. The first day of Lent; so called from a custom in the Roman Catholic church of putting ashes, on that day, upon the foreheads of penitents. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Ash Wednesday

Literary usage of Ash Wednesday

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Transactions by Ecclesiological Society (1885)
"At Mentz, blue, the penitential colour, was worn from Ash Wednesday to Passion Sunday ; and at Colen and Trier, black from Septuagesima to Passion Sunday. ..."

2. Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly by John Brand, Henry Ellis (1895)
"Ash Wednesday. Tins, which is the first day of Lent, is called Ash Wednesday, ... 222, " giving of ashes on Ash Wednesday, to put in remembrance every ..."

3. British Popular Customs, Present and Past: Illustrating the Social and by Thomas Firminger Thiselton Dyer (1900)
"Ash Wednesday. AMONG the Anglo-Saxons Ash Wednesday had its ceremonial of strewing ashes upon not merely the public penitent, but all ; and thereby spoke ..."

4. Publications by Dorset Record Society, Ohio Civil War Centennial Commission, Ohio Historical Society (1896)
"Here follows a Copy of what is referred to in the above letter. THE PUBLIC ADVERTISER. Ash Wednesday, February 16, 1774. 16 Feb. ..."

5. A Companion for the Festivals and Fasts of the Protestant Episcopal Church by John Henry Hobart, Robert Nelson (1851)
"Q. WHY does the fast of forty days, called Lent, begin on Ash - Wednesday, which is forty-six days before Easter ? A. Sunday, being the day on which we ..."

6. New Voices: An Introduction to Contemporary Poetry by Marguerite Ogden Bigelow Wilkinson (1922)
"Alfred Noyes Ash Wednesday (After hearing a lecture on the origins of religion) Here in the lonely chapel I will wait, Here will I rest, if any rest may be; ..."

7. Observations on Popular Antiquities Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our by John Brand, Henry Ellis (1900)
"Ash Wednesday. THIS, which is the first day of Lent, is called Ash Wednesday (as we rend in the Festa Anglo-Romana) from the ancient ceremony of blessing ..."

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