carnival

Meaning

Noun

1. Any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent.
2. A festive occasion marked by parades and sometimes special foods and other entertainment.
3. (US) A traveling amusement park, called a funfair in British English.
4. A context in which transgression or inversion of the social order is given temporary license. Derived from the work of Mikhail Bakhtin.
5. (figuratively) A gaudily chaotic situation.

Verb

1. (informal, rare) To participate in a carnival.
2. (literary) To move about playfully or wildly.

Synonyms

festival

fair

celebration

🎉

circus

festivity

fete

Shrovetide

carnie

carney

spree

merrymaking

feast

play

binge

funfair

fun-fair

annual fair

hurdy-gurdy

bacchanal

ball

banquet

bazaar

entertainment

fiesta

film

📽️

game

holiday

market

pageant

representation

show

trade fair

Translations

carnaval

Karneval

carnaval

carnaval

Fasching

Fastnacht

karnaval

foire

kermis

Kirmes

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkɑːnɪvəl/

Etymology

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.