Lent (Anglo-Saxon, lencten).

Lenctentid (spring-tide) was the Saxon name for March, because in this month there is a manifest lengthening of the days. As the chief part of the great fast falls in March, this period of fast received the name of the Lencten-fœsten, or Lent. It is from Ash Wednesday to Easter.

⁂ The Fast of thirty-six days was introduced in the fourth century. Felix III. added four more days in 487, to make it correspond with our Lord’s fast in the wilderness.

Galeazzo’s Lent. A form of torture devised by Galeazzo Visconti, calculated to prolong the unfortunate victim’s life for forty days.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

Lent (Anglo-Saxon, lencten).

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