Michaelmas

[ mik-uh l-muh s ]

/ ˈmɪk əl məs /

noun Chiefly British.

a festival celebrated on September 29 in honor of the archangel Michael.

Origin of Michaelmas

before 1150; Middle English Mighelmes; Old English (Sanct) Michaeles masse (St.) Michael's mass

Also called Michaelmas Day.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for michaelmas

At Yarmouth, in 1579, two thousand are said to have died of the plague between May-day and Michaelmas.
A History of Epidemics in Britain (Volume I of II)|Charles Creighton
Cuckoo oats and Michaelmas hay, Will make the farmer run away.
Rhymes Old and New|M.E.S. Wright
One of the features of Michaelmas in Scotland was the concoction and cooking of a giant cake, bun, or bannock.
Archaic England|Harold Bayley
The three were to sit in the Council until Michaelmas, when they were to be superseded by other three, who should sit for a year.
Venice and its Story|Thomas Okey

Peter became uneasy, for he expected Paul to come at Michaelmas.
The German Lieutenant and Other Stories|August Strindberg

British Dictionary definitions for michaelmas

Michaelmas

/ (ˈmɪkəlməs) /

noun

Sept 29, the feast of St Michael the archangel; in England, Ireland, and Wales, one of the four quarter days

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