Beltane
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of Beltane
1375–1425; late Middle English ( Scots ) < Scots Gaelic bealltainn, Old Irish bel ( l ) taine, perhaps equivalent to *bel- an obscure element, perhaps the name of a supernatural person + tene fire
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.
She crosses the video game’s Scottish Highlands on her journey to the coast in time for the Gaelic May Day festival Beltane, where her uncle, a lighthouse keeper, is waiting.
From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2023
People were keen to please the fairies, known in Gaelic as the aos sí, who were believed to be particularly mischievous around Beltane and Samhain.
From Salon ● May 2, 2022
If you have any witchy or Wiccan friends, come late April, you'll likely see their tributes to Beltane popping up in your social media feeds.
From Salon ● May 2, 2022
A leathery dominatrix holding hands with a unicorn wished me, using the customary parlance, a happy Beltane.
From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2015
Whether these "Beltane fires" are a relic of the ancient fire worship or of still older rites may be a question.
From Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, Volume I (of 2) Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs by Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
