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easter - 7 dictionary results
Eas⋅ter
[ee-ster] 
–noun
| 1. | an annual Christian festival in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, as calculated according to tables based in Western churches on the Gregorian calendar and in Orthodox churches on the Julian calendar. |
| 2. | Also called Easter Sunday. the day on which this festival is celebrated. |
| 3. | the Easter season; the week following Easter. |
Origin:
bef. 900; ME ester, OE ēastre; c. G Ostern; orig. name of a goddess and her festival; akin to east
bef. 900; ME ester, OE ēastre; c. G Ostern; orig. name of a goddess and her festival; akin to east
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To easter
| Eas·ter (ē'stər) n.
[Middle English ester, from Old English ēastre; see aus- in Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Easter
Eas"ter\, n. [AS. e['a]ster, e['a]stran, paschal feast, Easter; akin to G. ostern; fr. AS. E['a]stre, a goddess of light or spring, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated in April; whence this month was called in AS. E['a]sterm[=o]na[eth]. From the root of E. east. See East.]1. An annual church festival commemorating Christ's resurrection, and occurring on Sunday, the second day after Good Friday. It corresponds to the pasha or passover of the Jews, and most nations still give it this name under the various forms of pascha, pasque, p[^a]que, or pask. 2. The day on which the festival is observed; Easter day. Note: Easter is used either adjectively or as the first element of a compound; as, Easter day or Easter-day, Easter Sunday, Easter week, Easter gifts. Sundays by thee more glorious break, An Easter day in every week. --Keble. Note: Easter day, on which the rest of the movable feasts depend, is always the first Sunday after the fourteenth day of the calendar moon which (fourteenth day) falls on, or next after, the 21st of March, according to the rules laid down for the construction of the calendar; so that if the fourteenth day happen on a Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday after. --Eng. Cyc. Easter dues (Ch. of Eng.), money due to the clergy at Easter, formerly paid in communication of the tithe for personal labor and subject to exaction. For Easter dues, Easter offerings, voluntary gifts, have been substituted. Easter egg. (a) A painted or colored egg used as a present at Easter. (b) An imitation of an egg, in sugar or some fine material, sometimes made to serve as a box for jewelry or the like, used as an Easter present.Easter
East"er\, v. i. (Naut.) To veer to the east; -- said of the wind. --Russell.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : easter
Spanish:
Pascua,
German:
das Ostern,
Japanese:
復活祭
Easter
An important religious festival among Christians; it commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus after his Crucifixion. Easter is celebrated on a Sunday in spring, and the season of Easter, a time of rejoicing, continues for several weeks. The penitential season of Lent is a time of preparation for Easter.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Easter
O.E. Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from P.Gmc. *Austron, a goddess of fertility and sunrise whose feast was celebrated at the spring equinox, from *austra-, from PIE *aus- "to shine" (especially of the dawn). Bede says Anglo-Saxon Christians adopted her name and many of the celebratory practices for their Mass of Christ's resurrection. Ultimately related to east. Almost all neighboring languages use a variant of L. Pasche to name this holiday. Easter Island so called because it was discovered by Europeans on Easter Sunday, 1722.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Easter
originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honour of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover. Hence the name came to be given to the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occured at the time of the Passover. In the early English versions this word was frequently used as the translation of the Greek pascha (the Passover). When the Authorized Version (1611) was formed, the word "passover" was used in all passages in which this word pascha occurred, except in Act 12:4. In the Revised Version the proper word, "passover," is always used.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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