Meaning & use
Lent
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Meaning
proper nounproperreligion
In Christianity, the period of about forty days before Easter, when many people fast or give something up.
Grammar: Capitalized and used without 'the' in most contexts: during Lent. It is a period, so it takes 'in' or 'during'.
Patterns
- during Lent
- in Lent
- give something up for Lent
Many Christians give up sweets during Lent.
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends before Easter Sunday.
She decided to read a book a week for Lent.
Common combinations
- during Lent
- The church holds special services during Lent.
- for Lent
- He gave up coffee for Lent.
- the season of Lent
- The season of Lent is a time for reflection.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Lenten season
- A more formal way to say the same period; 'Lent' alone is the everyday term.
Word family
- Lenten adjective
- Relating to Lent, as in 'Lenten fasting'.
Commonly confused: Lent or lent?
Lent vs lent
With a small l, 'lent' is the past tense of 'lend' (he lent me his car). With a capital L, Lent is the religious season.
Practice
Which sentence uses Lent correctly?
Choose one answer.
Lent (capital L) is the Christian season before Easter, so 'during Lent' is correct. In options An and C, the word is the past tense of 'lend' and should not be capitalized; option D wrongly defines the religious term as a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Lent”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.