Ash Wednesday
/æʃ wɛnz.dɛɪ/ noun
Forms Ash Wednesdays Ashwednesday Ash-Wednesday
- noun (Christianity) The Wednesday 46 days before Easter in a given year, (Catholicism) traditionally observed as the beginning of Lent and a day of strict abstention from certain foods and pleasures.
- noun (cocktail) A cocktail made from a mix of gin, heavy cream, honey syrup, and blackberries
Etymology
From Middle English Aschewednysday, Axwednesdai, from asshe, axe (“ash”) + Wednesdai, Wednysday (“Wednesday”), from the custom of using the blessed ashes of the previous year's palm fronds (cf. Palm Sunday) to mark the heads of the congregation on the day. By surface analysis, ash + Wednesday.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Ash Wednesday”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details