Ash Wednesday

Definition: Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday

Noun

1. The 7th Wednesday before Easter; the first day of Lent; the day following Mardi Gras (`fat Tuesday'); a day of fasting and repentance.

Specialty Definition: Ash Wednesday

Domain	Definition
Literature	Ash Wednesday The first Wednesday in Lent, so called from an ancient Roman Catholic custom of sprinkling ashes on the heads of those condemned to do penance on this day. The ashes were those of the palms burnt on Palm Sunday. The pessimi were sprinkled with ashes, the less offending were signed on the forehead with the sign of the cross, the officiating minister saying, "Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris." The custom, it, is said, was introduced by Gregory the Great. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Ash Wednesday

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It is exactly forty-four days before Good Friday: the period from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday, including both of those days, consists of forty-five days; the six Sundays during that time are not counted among the forty days of Lent; the day after Good Friday is counted.

Some Christians treat Ash Wednesday as a day for remembering one's mortality. Masses are traditionally held on this day, and attendees who receive communion on this day are blessed with ashes by the priest ministering the ceremony. The minister marks the forehead of each celebrant with black ashes, leaving a mark that the worshipper traditionally leaves on his or her forehead until sundown, before washing it off.

Being the first day of Lent, it comes the day after Shrove Tuesday. In certain parts of the UK, Ash Wednesday similarly involves the ritual consumption of a food stuff; in this case the homonymous dish hash. In 2003 it falls on March 5. It varies each year, according to the date of Easter that year.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Ash Wednesday."

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Synonyms within Context: Ash Wednesday

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Regularity of recurrence Periodicity	Rota, cycle, period, stated time, routine; days of the week; Sunday, Monday; months of the year; January; feast, fast; Christmas, Easter, New Year's day; Allhallows, Allhallowmas, All Saints' Day; All Souls', All Souls' Day; Ash Wednesday, bicentennial, birthday, bissextile, Candlemas, Dewali, groundhog day, Halloween, Hallowmas, Lady day, leap year, Midsummer day, Muharram, woodchuck day, St. Swithin's day, natal day; yearbook; yuletide.
Rite	Sabbath, Pentecost; Advent, Christmas, Epiphany; Lent; Passion week, Holy week; Easter, Easter Sunday, Whitsuntide; agape, Ascension Day, Candlemas, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Holy Thursday; Lammas, Martinmas, Michaelmas; All SAint's DAy, All Souls' Day
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Ash Wednesday

English words defined with "Ash Wednesday": commination ♦ Lent, Lententide ♦ Opetide ♦ Quinquagesima, Quinquagesima Sunday ♦ Shrove Tuesday. (references)

Specialty definitions using "Ash Wednesday": Colours for Church Decoration ♦ Feasts. (references)

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Modern Usage: Ash Wednesday

Domain	Usage
Movie/TV Titles	Ash Wednesday (1973)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Ash Wednesday

Domain	Title
Books	Ash Wednesday '45 (reference) Ash Wednesday Through Easter: Devotions for Children (reference) Ash Wednesday to Easter for Choirs (reference) Celebrate Jesus! at Easter: Family Devotions for Ash Wednesday Through Easter (reference) Les Contemplations of Victor Hugo: The Ash Wednesday Liturgy (reference) (more book examples)

Theater & Movies	Ash Wednesday (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music	Ash Wednesday Blues (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Ash Wednesday

Subject	Topic	Quote
Travel	Trinidad	NOTE: Carnival Monday and Tuesday (the Monday and Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday) are not official public holidays, but almost all businesses are closed. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Ash Wednesday

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Expression	Frequency per Day
ash wednesday	111
2004 ash wednesday	26
ash wednesday movie	11
ash wednesday bushfires	8
ash wednesday fire	7
1962 ash wednesday	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Ash Wednesday

Language		Translations for "Ash Wednesday"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Afrikaans		Asdag. (various references)

Arabic		‏أربعاء الرماد. (various references)

Danish		askeonsdag. (various references)

Dutch		Aswoensdag. (various references)

Esperanto		Cindromerkredo, Cindra Merkredo. (various references)

French		mercredi des cendres. (various references)

German		Aschermittwoch. (various references)

Greek		πρώτη τετάρτη της Σαρακοστής. (various references)

Hungarian		hamvazószerda. (various references)

Italian		MercoledÌ delle Ceneri, mercoledì delle Ceneri, le Ceneri, Ceneri (ashes). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		灰の水曜日 . (various references)

Japanese Katakana		はいのすいようび. (various references)

Manx		Laa-Ynnyd, Jecrean ny Leoie. (various references)

Pig Latin		ashay ednesdayway

Portuguese		quarta-feira de cinzas. (various references)

Russian		среда на первой неделе великого поста. (various references)

Spanish		miércoles de ceniza. (various references)

Swedish		askonsdag (ash-wednesday). (various references)

Turkish		paskalya öncesi perhizin ilk çarşambası. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Ash Wednesday

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	caput ieiunius, Cineres, Feria quarta Cinerum. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Anagrams: Ash Wednesday

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-a-d-d-e-e-h-n-s-s-w-y"
	-4 letters: awayness, dasheens, deadness, handsaws, hayseeds, headways, sashayed, washdays, weasands.
	-5 letters: assayed, dasheen, deadens, deashed, deashes, deewans, desands, endways, essayed, eyewash, handsaw, hayseed, headway, hyaenas, saddens, sawneys, seawans, seaways, swashed, waeness, washday, weasand, wessand.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.