lent

¹

[lent]

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of lend.

Lent

²

[lent]

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.

-lent

³

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

   pestilent.

lent

¹

/ lɛnt /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of lend

Lent

²

/ 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

Lent

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

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Lent¹

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); Lenten, long ¹ ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of Lent¹

Old English lencten, lengten spring, literally: lengthening (of hours of daylight)

Example Sentences

Some old friends have lent me their home while they are away, and the first thing I noticed is that their front window directly faces the library across the street, part of the town for 101 years.

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In addition, the company obtained supply-chain financing from institutions that lent against the company’s inventory and receivables.

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Engie was able to restart the reactor after confirming the vessel hadn’t been weakened, but the episode lent momentum to the protesters’ campaign to shut the reactors.

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Big banks lent it money to do so.

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Stevenson’s inability to deliver a clear answer lent credence to Gorsuch’s suggestion that a broad decision for “free speech” could actually safeguard LGBTQ+ rights, not undermine them.

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When To Use

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.