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• lent
  lent

  verb

  simple past tense and past participle of lend.
• Lent
  Lent

  noun

  (in the Christian religion) an annual season of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday and lasting 40 weekdays to Easter, observed by Roman Catholic, Anglican, and certain other churches.
• -lent
  -lent

  a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, variant of -ulent.

lent

¹ American  

[lent] / lɛnt /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of lend.

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Lent ² American  

[lent] / lɛnt /

noun

1. (in the Christian religion) an annual season of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday and lasting 40 weekdays to Easter, observed by Roman Catholic, Anglican, and certain other churches.

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-lent ³ American  

1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, variant of -ulent.

   pestilent.

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Lent ¹ British  

/ lɛnt /

noun

1. Christianity the period of forty weekdays lasting from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, observed as a time of penance and fasting commemorating Jesus' fasting in the wilderness

2. (modifier) falling within or associated with the season before Easter

   Lent observance

3. (plural) (at Cambridge University) Lent term boat races

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lent ² British  

/ lɛnt /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of lend

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Lent Cultural  

1. In Christianity, a time of fasting and repentance in the spring, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending several weeks later on Easter.

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Usage

What is Lent? Lent is the season of fasting and penitence that precedes Easter in some branches of Christianity. It is commonly observed by abstaining from certain things.

Discover More

To “give something up for Lent” is to abandon a pleasurable habit as an act of devotion and self-discipline.

Other Word Forms

• post-Lent
  adjective
• unlent
  adjective
• well-lent
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Lent

First recorded before 900; Middle English leynte, Old English læncte “spring, springtime, Lent,” literally, “lengthening (of daylight hours)”; cognate with Dutch lente(n), German Lenz “spring” (only English has the ecclesiastical sense); see origin at Lenten, long ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lent Lent

He spoke calmly which lent his words more power.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

He has lent his campaign more than $1.6 million and failed to provide the personal disclosure information required of federal candidates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

A couple more are the “Hever Rose” by any other name, but the “Lyndhurst,” lent by the Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, N.Y., might be a “cousin” portrait.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

The Hormuz closure has only lent greater significance to the Red Sea, the only other maritime route for oil shipments from global heavyweight Saudi Arabia.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

“Craig lent him a shirt. You’re so nice, Craig.”

From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini

Civilians had reportedly gathered at the site for a meditation retreat to mark Buddhist Lent.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

It was to address this paradox that the so-called Buddhist Lent campaign began in 2003, and last year it claimed more than eight million adherents.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

Vance, 41, committed to the diet for Lent earlier this year, and has stuck with it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

Fresh from a visit speaking to Oxford University students, she is currently arranging a Lent fundraiser.

From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2026

Lent had just begun, and I was always in a state during those forty days of the passion of Christ.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez