Easter term

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*térmn̥“stump, end, boundary”
2. Latin · derived fromterminus“a bound, boundary, limit, end; in Medieval Latin, also a time, period, word, covenant, etc.”
3. Old French · derived fromterme
4. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂ews-“to become light; to dawn”
5. Proto-Germanic · derived from*Austrǭ
6. Old English · derived fromēastre
7. Middle English · inherited fromester term“Christian season of Easter; spring quarter of the year”
8. English todayEaster term

From Late Middle English ester term (“Christian season of Easter; spring quarter of the year”), from ester (“Easter”) + term, terme (“limit of a span of time; point in time”). Ester is derived from Old English ēastre, apparently from Ēastre (name of a goddess whose festival was celebrated at the vernal equinox), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“to become light; to dawn”); terme is borrowed from Old French terme, from Latin terminus (“a bound, boundary, limit, end; in Medieval Latin, also a time, period, word, covenant, etc.”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥ (“stump, end, boundary”) (whence also thrum). By surface analysis, Easter + term. The Christian feast day of Easter, which falls between 22 March and 25 April, often occurs during this term. As regards sense 1 (“fourteenth day of the first lunar month of spring”), Easter is the first Sunday following this day.

Words from the same roots