carnival

CEFRB1

/ˈkɑːnɪvəl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A public event with rides, games, music, and entertainment.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A festive occasion marked by parades and sometimes special foods and other entertainment.

Examples

  • I thought you were going to the carnival with Tom tonight.

  • I hate snow and the carnival.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈkaːnɪvl̩]
  • [ˈkɑːnɪvl̩]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A traveling amusement park, called a funfair in British English.

  2. Any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent.

  3. A context in which transgression or inversion of the social order is given temporary license. Derived from the work of Mikhail Bakhtin.

More examples

In context

  • Rio's carnival is held in February.

  • We all got to ride the merry-go-round when they brought their carnival to town.

  • Carnival of Brazil

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Every year, the town holds a vibrant blank with rides and games.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle French carnaval, from Italian carnevale, possibly from the Latin phrase carnem levāmen (“meat dismissal”). Other scholars suggest Latin carnuālia (“meat-based country feast”) or carrus nāvālis (“boat wagon; float”) instead. Doublet of carnaval.