carnival (English)

Where does "carnival" come from?

The word carnival originates from the Italian term carnevale, which likely stems from the Latin phrase carnem levāre, meaning to remove or dismiss meat. This reflects the holiday’s historical tradition of indulgence before the fasting period of Lent, as people prepared to abstain from meat. The term eventually traveled through Middle French before entering English as a description for festive, often boisterous celebrations.

Full etymology tree

• carnival (English), 'Any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent.'
  • learned borrowing carnaval (Middle French)
    • learned borrowing carnevale (Italian), 'carnival; festival in the week before Lent'
      • inherited carnem (Latin), 'accusative singular of carō'
      • inherited levare (Latin), 'inflection of levō:'
      • inherited levamen (Latin), 'alleviation, mitigation'
      • inherited carneālis (Latin)
      • inherited carnuālis (Latin)
      • inherited carrus (Latin), 'a wagon, a two-wheeled baggage cart'
      • inherited nāvālis (Latin), 'naval'

Direct ancestors

• (s)ker- (Proto-Indo-European)
• carnevale (Italian)
• carnaval (English)

Updated May 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris