# Easter

Pronunciation: US say "EE-stur" /ˈistəɹ/; UK say "EE-stuh" /ˈiːstə/

## Noun

1. The Christian feast celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, observed on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 in Western Christianity, with a later range in Eastern churches.
   - Simple: A Christian holiday that celebrates Jesus coming back to life, held on a Sunday in spring.
   - _Easter fell unusually early that year, arriving in the third week of March._
   - _The bishop led the Easter vigil before a packed congregation._
2. The festal season extending from Easter Sunday to Whitsun, lasting roughly seven weeks.
   - Simple: The church season that lasts from Easter Sunday until Pentecost, about seven weeks.
   - _Throughout Easter the parish held weekly celebrations until Whitsun._
   - _The flowers remained on the altar for all of Easter._
5. A festival in honor of the goddess Eostre or Ostara, held at the spring equinox or during April.
   - Simple: A spring festival held to honor the old goddess Eostre, kept around the time when day and night are equal.
   - _The grove gathered to keep Easter with songs to the dawn goddess._
   - _Easter, for these worshippers, marked the return of spring rather than any resurrection._
6. Short for Easter term. *(Ireland, UK)* — Ellipsis of Easter term.
   - Simple: Short for Easter term. It names the spring term at certain UK universities and law courts.
   - _The case was adjourned until Easter, when the courts resume sitting._
   - _He read law throughout Easter, cramming before his finals._

## Verb

3. To observe or celebrate the feast of Easter.
   - Simple: To take part in Easter celebrations.
   - _The parish Eastered with a dawn service and a shared breakfast._
   - _We Easter each year with old hymns and a feast._
4. To pass the Easter season in a particular place.
   - Simple: To spend the Easter season somewhere.
   - _The duke always Eastered at his country estate._
   - _We usually Easter on the coast, returning to the city in May._

## Noun

7. The act of receiving the Eucharist during the Easter season, usually expressed with an inflection of make, as in to make one's Easter. *(dated)*
   - Simple: The act of taking Holy Communion during the Easter season.
   - _The old farmer never failed to make his Easter, however far he had to travel._
   - _Parishioners were expected to make their Easter before the season ended._
8. The Jewish feast of Passover. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The Jewish spring festival of Passover.

## Other meanings

- (proper noun) A surname of English origin.

## Origin

The noun comes from Middle English Ester, from Old English ēastre, seemingly from Ēastre, a proposed Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn whose festival is thought to have been celebrated around the vernal equinox. It goes back through Proto-West Germanic *Austrā to Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, derived either from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "dawn; east" or, perhaps more plausibly, from a word for "spring." It is cognate with German Ostern and possibly a doublet of east, but despite a modern folk etymology it is not related to Ishtar. The verb comes from the noun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/easter (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).