Ash Wednesday
Preserved but no longer current.
The first Wednesday in Lent, so called from an ancient Roman Catholic custom of sprinkling on the heads of penitents who had confessed that day the ashes of the palms that were consecrated on the previous Palm Sunday which themselves had been consecrated at the altar. The custom, it is said, was introduced by Gregory the Great.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Ash Wednesday” mean?
The first Wednesday in Lent, so called from an ancient Roman Catholic custom of sprinkling on the heads of penitents who had confessed that day the ashes of the palms that were consecrated on the previous Palm Sunday which themselves had been consecrated at the altar. The custom, it is said, was introduced by Gregory the Great.
Is “Ash Wednesday” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.