Showing results for "lent"

• past tense form of lend.
• past participle of lend.

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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

One young firm, angling for publicity, lent a unit to the writer William F. Buckley Jr., who was a “fanatical amateur sailor.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

A rate increase by the Bank of Japan and expectations of further rate increases have since lent support to the yen, dimming its appeal as a funding currency for carry trades.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

“We probably wouldn’t have lent her if she were in our collection.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Marr had lent it to Noel Gallagher during early recording sessions for Oasis' album Definitely Maybe.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

“The owner was contacted. A Henry Winter. Goes to school up at the college. He says he lent the vehicle to Mr. Macaulay for the evening.”

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Lent weight to attacks and had a chance with a far post header.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

It concludes a 40-day period known as Lent, during which Christians focus on prayer, almsgiving, and practice traditions such as abstinence from eating meat on certain days.

From Barron's ● Apr. 2, 2026

His favourite treat, however, is the Simnel cake, a traditional fruitcake typically made with a layer of either marzipan or almond paste and associated with Lent.

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026

Will the typical American Christian find more meaning this year in keeping Lent and attending Easter services?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026

During Lent, they noted no meat passed my lips, not even a steaming broth when a bad catarrh confined me to the infirmary.

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