Diwali

noun

Di·wa·li də-ˈwä-lē

-ˈvä-

variants or less commonly Divali or Dewali

plural Diwalis also Divalis or Dewalis

: a Hindu festival of lights held in late October or early November

Candlelight and lanterns are traditional beacons of autumn and winter for many cultures—from Diwali to Christmas to Hanukkah—as communities usher in longer nights.—

Leeta-Rose Ballester

Examples of Diwali in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

By September, flight bookings for the Diwali period had seen an 85% increase on last year – surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to World on Holiday, an Indian organization that analyzes travel and hospitality data. —

Jessie Yeung, CNN, 25 Oct. 2024 Celebrate Diwali early at Eastern Glade in Memorial Park on Saturday. —

Shafaq Patel, Axios, 24 Oct. 2024 Singham Again will be released during Diwali on November 1. —

Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2024 In the meantime, Sunny and her family are kicking off a series of Diwali celebrations this weekend, leading up to the official international celebration between October 31 and November 1 this year. —

Kristin L. Wolfe, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for Diwali

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Hindi dīvālī, divālī, going back to Middle Indo-Aryan dīvālī-, dīvāvalī-, going back to Sanskrit dīpāvaliḥ "row of lights, the Diwali festival," from dīpaḥ "lamp, light" (noun extracted from dīpayati "[s/he] sets alight, lights, illuminates," causative derivative from the base of dī́deti "[it] shines, is bright") + āvaliḥ "row, line" (of uncertain origin) — more at psychedelic entry 1

First Known Use

1698, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of Diwali was in 1698

See more words from the same year