Etymology

easter

Eas·ter
E1A1S1T1E1R1

Today it means: A Christian feast commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on the first Sunday (and Monday) following the full moon that occurs on or next after the vernal equinox, ranging in most of Western Christianity (such as Protestantism and Roman Catholicism) from March 22 to April 25, and in Eastern Christianity (such as the Coptic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church) from April 4 to May 8. Full definition →

First used 8th c.Old English eastera
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

easter · adjective, noun, verb1

  1. Old English · inherited fromeastera
  2. English todayeaster

From Old English eastera, eastra. Compare norther, souther, wester.

Easter · noun, proper noun, verb2

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ews-
  2. Proto-Germanic*Austrǭ
  3. Proto-West Germanic*Austrā
  4. Old EnglishĒastre
  5. Old Englishēastre
  6. Middle Englishester
  7. English todayEaster

The noun is derived 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. Further from Proto-West Germanic *Austrā, from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, derived from either Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“dawn; east”) or, more semantically plausible, from *austrą, *auzrą, a metathesized form of *wazrą (“spring (season)”), *-ǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥ (“spring”). The English word is cognate with German Low German Oostern (“Easter”), Old High German ōstarūn (modern German Ostern) and is possibly a doublet of east. Despite a modern folk etymology, not related to Ishtar. The verb is derived from the noun.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishēastre all →

Easter term

Proto-West Germanic*Austrā all →

Eostre

Proto-Germanic*Austrǭ all →

Easter termEostre

Proto-Indo-European*h₂ews- all →

easternarioseEaster termeoanhauriant

Proto-Indo-European*wósr̥ all →

vernalvernation

First known use, by meaning

  • from 8th c. Eastern.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.