[a. It. carnevale, carnovale (whence F. carnaval), evidently related to
the med.L. (11-12th c.) names carnelevrium, carnilevria, carnilevmen,
cited by Carpentier in additions to Du Cange. These appear to originate
in a L. *carnem levre, or It. *carne levare (with infinitive used
subst. as in il levar del sole sunrise), meaning ‘the putting away or
removal of flesh (as food)’, the name being originally proper to the
eve of Ash Wednesday. The actual It. carnevale appears to have come
through the intermediate carnelevale, cited by Carpentier from a
document of 1130.
The history of the word is illustrated by the parallel med.L. name
carnem laxare (cited by Carpentier from a charter of 1050), corresp. to
It. *carne lasciare ‘leaving or forsaking flesh’, whence, app. by
contraction, the modern carnasciale = carnevale. Carnem laxare, *carne
lasciare, *carnelasciale, carnasciale, form a series exactly parallel
to *carnem levare, *carne levare, carnelevale, carnevale. Other names
having a similar reference are, for Shrove Tuesday, carnicapium ‘flesh-
taking’, and carnivora [dies]; for Lent or its beginning, carniprivium,
carnisprivium, privicarnium, f. privare to deprive. In all
these, ‘flesh’ means meat, and that it was understood to mean the same
in carnelevare is shown by many early quotations in Du Cange; e.g. in a
MS. of beg. of 13th c. ‘De ludo Carnelevar. In Dominica dimissionis
carnis,’ etc. Also ‘Dominica ad vel ante carnes tollendas’; with which
compare the Spanish carnes tolendas, ‘shrove-tide’. We must therefore
entirely reject the suggestion founded on another sense of levare, ‘to
relieve, ease’, that carnelevarium meant ‘the solace of the flesh (i.e.
body)’ before the austerities of Lent. The explanations ‘farewell
flesh, farewell to flesh’ (from L. vale) found already in Florio,
and ‘down with flesh!’ (from F. aval), belong to the domain of popular
etymology. (Cf. Dr. Chance in N. & Q. s. 7 IV. 82.)]