Hall Sunday
Preserved but no longer current.
The Sunday preceding Shrove Tuesday; the next day is called Hall Monday or Hall Night. Shrove Tuesday is also called Pancake Day, and the day preceding it, Callop Monday, from the special foods popularly prepared for those days. All three were days of merrymaking. Hafl is a contraction of Hallow, meaning holy or festal.
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 “Hall Sunday” mean?
The Sunday preceding Shrove Tuesday; the next day is called Hall Monday or Hall Night. Shrove Tuesday is also called Pancake Day, and the day preceding it, Callop Monday, from the special foods popularly prepared for those days. All three were days of merrymaking. Hafl is a contraction of Hallow, meaning holy or festal.
Is “Hall Sunday” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.