Ember days

British

plural noun

RC Church Anglican Church any of four groups of three days (always Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) of prayer and fasting, the groups occurring after Pentecost, after the first Sunday of Lent, after the feast of St Lucy (Dec 13), and after the feast of the Holy Cross (Sept 14)

"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 Ember days

Old English ymbrendǣg, from ymbren, perhaps from ymbryne a (recurring) period, from ymb around + ryne a course + dǣg day

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.

There are four sets of Ember Days each year, which roughly follow the seasons.

From Fox News

The Lenten Ember Days always fall the week after Ash Wednesday and the first Sunday of Lent.

From Fox News

Many Christians across the country and around the world are celebrating Ember Days today — Wednesday, March 9, 2022 — as well as on Friday and Saturday of this week as part of their 2022 Lenten observances.

From Fox News

Explaining that Ember Days are "old-fashioned, traditional" observances perhaps going as far back as the fifth century A.D.,

From Fox News

The calendar noted ferial and ember days, fish days and the feastdays of saints.

From Literature

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