carnival

B2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈkɑɹnɪvəl/ UK /ˈkɑːnɪvəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #6822

Meanings

1

noun
A public festival with music, parades, dancing, and people in costumes.

Thousands of people danced in the streets during the carnival.
2

noun
A travelling amusement park with rides, games, and shows.

We all rode the merry-go-round when the carnival came to town.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms carnivals

Derived forms carnivalesquecarnivaliccarnivalisticcarnivalizecarnivallikecarnynoncarnivalprecarnival

Etymology

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.

*(s)ker- Proto-Indo-European carnaval Middle French carnevale Italian

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Entertainment & Leisure

External links

# carnival

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɑɹnɪvəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkɑːnɪvəl/
**Frequency rank:** 6822

## Meanings
1. A public festival with music, parades, dancing, and people in costumes.
2. A travelling amusement park with rides, games, and shows.

## Examples
- Thousands of people danced in the streets during the carnival.
- We all rode the merry-go-round when the carnival came to town.

## Derived Forms
- carnivalesque
- carnivalic
- carnivalistic
- carnivalize
- carnivallike
- carny
- noncarnival
- precarnival

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *(s)ker-
- Root: carnaval
- Root: carnevale

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
carnival is a noun and verb. It is 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. Historical forms in the chain include *(s)ker- (Proto-Indo-European), carnaval (Middle French), and carnevale (Italian). Current senses include a public festival with music, parades, dancing, and people in costumes and a travelling amusement park with rides, games, and shows. Derived forms include carnivalesque, carnivalic, carnivalistic, carnivalize, and carnivallike.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Entertainment & Leisure

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carnival

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