A type of fried pastry or doughnut, traditionally eaten during Lent or Carnival season, especially in Pennsylvania Dutch communities.
From German 'Fastnacht,' literally 'fast-night' (from 'Faste' = fast, 'Nacht' = night), referring to the last night before Lenten fasting. This word entered English through German immigrants, particularly in the Mid-Atlantic states.
Fasnacht shows how food words travel with immigrant communities—Pennsylvania Dutch speakers brought this word and its tradition, and it's still the local term for a 'Lent doughnut'!
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