All Souls' Day

American

noun

a day of solemn prayer for all dead persons, observed by Roman Catholics and certain Anglicans, usually on November 2.

All Souls' Day British

noun

RC Church a day of prayer (Nov 2) for the dead in purgatory

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of All Souls' Day

First recorded in 1550–60

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

However, some traditional religious feasts - including All Souls' Day - remain popular, and are marked by both believers and atheists alike.

From BBC • Oct. 20, 2023

This would almost always take place around November 2, which was All Souls' Day, "a time for honoring the dead."

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2022

And in many other countries, including the United States, Nov. 2 is similarly recognized as All Souls’ Day, when Catholics remember and pray for the dead.

From New York Times • Oct. 29, 2021

Día de Muertos falls on Nov. 1 and 2 — which, not coincidentally, are All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day in Catholicism.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2021

“But I want to go to Mass on Wednesday for All Souls’ Day.

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023