Abstract
In Reply. —The chief purpose of my letter wasn't endorse any particular etymology of the word but challenge the erroneous derivation of it from a phrase meaning naval carriages. The Oxford English Dictionary(second edition),1The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology,2Webster's Third New International Dictionary,3The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language(third edition),4and Eric Partridge'sOrigins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English5concur in tracing carnival medieval Latincarnilevariaor one of its variants (carnilevamen, carnilevare, carnilevarium), all from Latin caro meaning flesh, meat andlevaremeaning to take away. The Oxford English Dictionary, Origins, and Albert Dauzat in hisDictionnaire Etymologique6explicitly reject the derivation fromCarne, vale! Meat, farewell! which is Italian, not Latin. Like most instances of folk etymology (admiral from admire, belfry from bell, cutlet from cut, and so on), it
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