Shrovetide

American  

[shrohv-tahyd] / ˈʃroʊvˌtaɪd /

noun

1. the three days before Ash Wednesday, once a time of confession and absolution.

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Shrovetide British  

/ ˈʃrəʊvˌtaɪd /

noun

1. the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, formerly a time when confessions were made in preparation for Lent

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Usage

What is Shrovetide? Shrovetide is the three-day period before the beginning of Lent, which is the season of fasting and penitence that precedes Easter. Shrovetide consists of Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday and is the most well-known of the days of Shrovetide due to the tradition of eating pancakes on that day. Shrove Tuesday is sometimes called Pancake Day for this reason.

Etymology

Origin of Shrovetide

First recorded in 1375–1425, Shrovetide is from the late Middle English word shroftyde. See shrove, tide ¹

Example Sentences

The last Royal Shrovetide Football match, involving thousands of players competing to move a ball to opposite ends of the town, took place just before the pandemic took hold, in 2020.

From BBC • Mar. 1, 2022

Ashbourne is more famous for Shrovetide football - its own chaotic and brutal form of the beautiful game - than international soccer.

From BBC • Jun. 3, 2016

While he is writing a dramatic treatment of the Shrovetide documentary, he also runs the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, which is a grittier version of the Sundance Festival.

From New York Times • Apr. 23, 2013

An outspoken cleric known for his liberal views calls it a "legal outrage" during Shrovetide week, when church tradition allows and even encourages carnival-like escapades and jokes.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 18, 2012

Blind am I. On milk I live, And meat, God sends it, on each Saint's Day; Though Donald Mac Art—may he never thrive— Last Shrovetide drove half my kine away.

From A Book of Irish Verse Selected from modern writers with an introduction and notes by W. B. Yeats by Yeats, W. B. (William Butler)