In the Christian liturgy it is the period before Easter, which from Ash Wednesday until Holy Thursday is around 40 days. The name comes from the Latin quadragesima ("forty-a-thousandth").
It is the period leading up to the Resurrection and begins on Ash Wednesday. It is a special period of recollection and penance for the Catholic faithful.
Lent: f. in the Catholic religion, period of 46 days since Ash Wednesday, even precedes the feast of the resurrection Jesus of Nazateth.