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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

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

France has lent Codex Azcatitlán to Mexico to mark 200 years of Franco-Mexican relations.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

Had they been plastered, clad in ceramic, or built in raw concrete, they would have lent tangible weight and heft to the vaults.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

It was a modest thing, lent to her by the yumboes, but certainly more comfortable than anything she’d ever slept on before.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

But a concerned relative persuaded her to join a campaign to give up alcohol during Khao Phansa, a three-month period of reflection observed by Buddhists akin to Christian Lent.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

"With this release, U2 has bookended Lent with two very different collections."

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026

I wish the Christian observance of Lent had the communal dimension Ramadan has, with the breaking of the Muslim fast almost always done together at the mosque, at home or in restaurants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026

Fresh from a visit speaking to Oxford University students, she is currently arranging a Lent fundraiser.

From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2026

“My boils are healed. But now that it is Lent, I must find some new suffering to endure.”

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein