Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- See under Lammas(def 2).
noun
- a former festival in England, held on August 1, in which bread made from the first harvest of corn was blessed.
- a festival (Feast of St. Peter’s Chains) observed by Roman Catholics on August 1, in memory of St. Peter’s imprisonment and his miraculous deliverance.
noun
- RC Church Aug 1, held as a feast, commemorating St Peter’s miraculous deliverance from prison
- Also called: Lammas Day the same day formerly observed in England as a harvest festival. In Scotland Lammas is a quarter day
Aug. 1 harvest festival with consecration of loaves, Old English hlafmæsse, literally “loaf mass,” from hlaf (see loaf (n.)) + mæsse (see mass (n.2)). Altered by influence of lamb (and occasionally spelled lamb- in 16c.-17c.).