Mardi Gras: the last day of a carnival, traditionally the celebration immediately before the start of Lent when joy could be out of place for Christians · a person dressed up in a ridiculous disguise
köken: Literally, “fat Tuesday”.
Les Gilles, richement costumé, défilant le jour du mardi gras dans les rues de la ville.
köken: laskea + -iainen. Most likely, the sense of laskea used here is “to go down, descend”, referring to 'going down', i.e. entering Lent; it may also be used in the sense “to let” (i.e. 'letting Lent begin') or, less likely, “to count” for counting the number of days in Lent. Swedish fastlag may also have influenced the word formation due to the similar sound.