Ash Wednesdayn.
The first day of Lent; so called from the custom in the Roman Catholic Church of sprinkling ashes on the heads of penitents on that day.
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Ash Wednesday1297
Pulver Wednesday1440
pulvering day1754
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. 542 An Ax wednesdai..To Gloucetre he wende.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 11235 An axwednesdai..To gloucetre he wende.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 429 In an Aschewednesday.
a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Gough) (1905) 82 Ȝe schull begyn your fast at Aske-Wanysday.
1539 Bk. Cerem. in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1822) I. ii. App. 429 The giving of ashes upon Ashwednesday, with these words, ‘Remember, man, that thou art ashes, and to ashes thou shalt return.’
1834 Penny Cycl. II. 454/2 Pope Gregory the Great introduced the sprinkling of ashes..which gave it the name of Ash-Wednesday.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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