Easter term

Eas·ter term
UK/ˈiːstə tɜːm/US/ˈistəɹ ˌtɜɹm/

noun

Synonym of Paschal term (“the fourteenth day of the first lunar month of spring, formerly used in calculating dates”).

Similar
Paschal term
OriginMiddle English ester term ← Old English ēastre ← Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounEaster term (plural Easter terms)

plural Easter terms

  1. historicalSynonym of Paschal term (“the fourteenth day of the first lunar month of spring, formerly used in calculating dates”).

    Synonyms: Paschal term

  2. lawThe third term of the legal year, running from April to May, during which the upper courts of England and Wales, and Ireland, sit to hear cases.
  3. broadlyeducationThe summer term of the University of Cambridge, and other educational institutions, running from April to June; equivalent to Trinity term at the universities of Oxford and Dublin. The term was modelled after the legal term, but does not begin and end on the same dates.

    There are four terms in the year, viz. […] 3. Easter term, which begins on the tenth day after Easter Sunday, and ends on the day before Whitsunday.

    1813, “University Terms, and How Many are Required to be Kept for each Degree”, in The Oxford University Calendar, for the Year 1813, Oxford: Printed by Munday and Slatter, for J. Parker; and F[rancis] C[harles] and J[ames] Rivington, London, →OCLC, page 65

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSynonym of Paschal term (“the fourteenth day of the first lunar month of spring, formerly used in calculating dates”).

Similar
Paschal term

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*térmn̥“stump, end, boundary”
  2. Latinterminus“a bound, boundary, limit, end; in Medieval Latin, also a time, period, word, covenant, etc.”
  3. Old Frenchterme
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ews-“to become light; to dawn”
  5. Proto-Germanic*Austrǭ
  6. Old Englishēastre
  7. Middle Englishester term“Christian season of Easter; spring quarter of the year”
  8. EnglishEaster 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.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish kesälukukausi
  • kesälukukausithird term of the legal year, running from April to May; summer term of the University of Cambridge, and other educational institutions, running from April to June
Polish semestr wielkanocny
  • semestr wielkanocnythird term of the legal year, running from April to May; summer term of the University of Cambridge, and other educational institutions, running from April to June
Cite this entry
APA

Easter term. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Easter%20term

MLA

“Easter term.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Easter%20term. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Easter term,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Easter%20term.

Source: Easter term on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.