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# Two Versions of the Origin of the Word Carnival Before Lent
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/u-nas-nedelia-pered-velikim-postom-maslenitsa-v-evrope-karnaval/
- Published: 2024-03-13T11:16:33.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:49:00.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Faith, Art, Museums, Mores, Ethnography

The week before Great Lent is maslenitsa with us, and carnival in Europe. The word carnival derives from the Italian carne, meat + vale, farewell, which accords with the Christian meaning of the festival preceding Great Lent.

True, there is another etymology of the word carnival: some trace it to the phrase carrus navalis, denoting a ceremonial cart in the form of a boat, used in processions of this kind.

Illustration: Jan Miel. Carnival in Rome, 1653\. Collection of the Prado Museum