easter

IPA/ˈiːstə(r)/
KK[ˈistɚ]IPA/ˈiːstər/

easter — noun

  • eastersingular
  • eastersplural

1. a springtime Christian festival marking the day Jesus Christ is believed to have

1.noun
Definition

a springtime Christian festival marking the day Jesus Christ is believed to have risen from the dead, held on a Sunday during March or April

Example

Ryan's family dyes eggs bright colours every Easter and hides them around the garden.

Easter tradition: dyeing eggs

Mei and her cousins shared a large Easter lunch of roast lamb and potatoes.

Common collocations
  • Easter egg
  • Easter bunny
  • Easter Sunday
  • Easter morning
  • Easter weekend
  • Easter dinner

Usage Note

Always spelled with a capital E. The exact date changes each year but always falls on a Sunday in March or April.

Common Mistakes

We visited our grandparents in Easter.
We visited our grandparents at Easter.
Use 'at' (or 'over') with Easter, not 'in'.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Easter refers to the entire festival and the period around it — you might say 'I'm visiting my family at Easter' to mean the holiday weekend or the school break. Easter Sunday, by contrast, names only the specific day of celebration. Pascha is the term used in Eastern Orthodox and many non-English-speaking Christian traditions for the same feast; it comes from the Hebrew word for Passover, reflecting the holiday's roots. Holy Week is the seven-day period of observances leading up to Easter Sunday, beginning with Palm Sunday, and is not the holiday itself but the preparation for it.

Easter SundayPaschaHoly Week

Common collocations

Nouns

  • Easter celebration
  • Easter service
  • Easter holiday
  • Easter break

Phrases

  • Happy Easter!

Prepositions

  • at Easter
  • over Easter
  • for Easter
  • before Easter

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word comes from Old English Ēastre, the name of a spring goddess whose festival fell at this time of year. It shares a root with 'east,' the direction of sunrise. The Christian holiday took its name from the Old English month Ēosturmōnaþ (April), which was itself named after the goddess. From Old English the word passed into Middle English as estre before becoming modern Easter.

First known use

12th century

12th century, in the meaning defined above