Maslenitsa

Borrowed from Russian Ма́сленица (Máslenica).

Maslenitsa (usually uncountable, plural Maslenitsas)

1. An East Slavic festival of pre-Christian origin celebrated during the last week before Lent, seven weeks before Easter; analogous to Shrovetide.

   Synonyms: Butter Week, Cheese Week

   • 1981, Christel Lane, The Rites of Rulers: Ritual in Industrial Society – the Soviet Case:

     In pre-revolutionary Russia the pagan associations had already been lost to a large extent, and Maslenitsa had become a popular communal, jolly celebration dedicated to the seeing-off of winter.

• assailment, laminasets