What is "septuagesima"

Septuagesima \Sep`tu*a*ges"i*ma\, n. [NL., fr. L. septuagesimus the seventieth, fr. septuaginta seventy.] (Eccl.) The third Sunday before Lent; -- so called because it is about seventy days before Easter.

Septuagesima (in full, Septuagesima Sunday) is the name for the ninth Sunday before Easter, the third before Ash Wednesday. The term is sometimes applied also to the period commonly called Shrovetide (the Pre-Lenten Season) that begins on this day and ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins.

The other two Sundays in this period of the liturgical year are called Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, the latter sometimes also called Shrove Sunday. The earliest date on which Septuagesima Sunday can occur is January 18 (Easter falling on March 22 in a non-leap year) and the latest is February 22 (Easter falling on April 25 in a leap year).