謝肉祭

Japanese

Kanji in this term
謝	肉	祭
しゃ Grade: 5	にく Grade: 2	さい Grade: 3
kan’on	goon

Etymology

謝(しゃ) (sha, “to refuse”) + 肉(にく) (niku, “meat”) + 祭(さい) (sai, “celebration”). Calque of Latin carnem levare (“to put away meat”), a probable origin of the word carnival itself.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しゃにく​さい [shàníkúꜜsàì] (Nakadaka – [3])
• (Tokyo) しゃに​くさい [shàníꜜkùsàì] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ɕa̠ɲ̟ikɯ̟ᵝsa̠i]

Noun

謝(しゃ)肉(にく)祭(さい) • (shanikusai) 

1. carnival, a festival held just before the beginning of Lent

   Synonym: カーニバル (kānibaru)