thanksgivings

Noun

thanksgiving (countable and uncountable, plural thanksgivings)

1. The expression of gratitude.
   • Now the happy king laid the forehead of thankſgiving upon the duſt of gratitude; he opened the doors of his wealth to the four winds, and enriched the world, at once, with his munificence.1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page 3
2. A short prayer said at meals; grace, a benediction.
3. A public celebration in acknowledgement of divine favour.
   • Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the aisle with bundles of wheat-ears and streamers of ivy, for the harvest thanksgiving was shortly to be celebrated, while the vicar stood waiting for their directions on the chancel steps with a great handful of crimson gladioli.1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC

See all 6 meanings of thanksgiving