carnival

Where it comes from

Carnival ordinarily means a public festival with entertainment, processions, costumes, or rides. English carnival came through French from Italian carnevale. American Heritage traces it to Old Italian carnelevare, the Shrovetide period, combining carne, meat or flesh, with levare, to remove or take away. The name referred to the festive period immediately before Lent, when religious rules required abstention from meat.

How the meaning developed

It later broadened from that particular pre-Lenten celebration to revelry, public festivals, and, in American English, traveling amusement shows.