Word.ws English Dictionary

Beltane

Beltane proper noun: the first day of May (since 1752); May Day, a Scottish quarter day, sometimes associated by Christians with the nearest Church Feast, the Invention of the Cross (3 May), and Whitsunday (15 May).

Proper noun

Beltane

  1. The first day of May (since 1752); May Day, a Scottish quarter day, sometimes associated by Christians with the nearest Church Feast, the Invention of the Cross (3 May), and Whitsunday (15 May).
    • And quhair it be tainted that they big, and the Birdes be flowin, and the nest be funden in the Trees at Beltane the trees sal be foirfaulted to the King (bot gif they be redeemed fra him, throw them that they first perteined to) and hewin downe, and siue schillings to the King is unlaw.1424, James I of Scotland, The lawes and actes of parliament maid be King James the first and his successours kinges of Scotland, Edinburgh edition, Robert Waldegrave, published 1597, page A3
  2. An ancient Gaelic/Celtic May Day holiday celebration, at which large bonfires were built on the hilltops, revived by Celtic neopagans.
    • For it was approaching that uncanny time of year, the festival of Beltane, when the auld pagans were wont to sacrifice to their god Baal. In this season warlocks and carlines have a special dispensation to do evil, and Alison waited on its coming with graceless joy.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

Forms of Beltane

alternative formBealtine
alternative formBealtaine
alternative formBeltaine
alternative formBeltene
alternative formBeltein
alternative formBeltin
alternative formBealtuinn

Origin of Beltane

From the Celtic *belo-tanos (“bright fire”).

Questions about Beltane

What does Beltane mean?
Beltane means the first day of May (since 1752); May Day, a Scottish quarter day, sometimes associated by Christians with the nearest Church Feast, the Invention of the Cross (3 May), and Whitsunday (15 May).
What part of speech is Beltane?
Beltane is a proper noun.

Words near Beltane in the dictionary

  1. belt-tightening
  2. belt-tightenings
  3. belt-tightens
  4. belta
  5. Beltaine
  6. Beltane
  7. beltcourse
  8. beltcourses
  9. belted
  10. belted cable
  11. belted down

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Beltane (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “Beltane.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/beltane. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.