'Easter' definitions:

Definition of 'Easter'

From: WordNet
noun
A Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ; celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox
noun
A wind from the east [syn: east wind, easter, easterly]

Definition of 'Easter'

From: GCIDE
  • Movable \Mov"a*ble\, a. [Cf. OF. movable. See Move.]
  • 1. Capable of being moved, lifted, carried, drawn, turned, or conveyed, or in any way made to change place or posture; susceptible of motion; not fixed or stationary; as, a movable steam engine. [Also spelled moveable.]
  • Syn: transferable, transferrable, transportable. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Changing from one time to another; as, movable feasts, i. e., church festivals, the date of which varies from year to year. [1913 Webster]
  • Movable letter (Heb. Gram.), a letter that is pronounced, as opposed to one that is quiescent.
  • Movable feast (Ecclesiastical), a holy day that changes date, depending on the lunar cycle. An example of such a day is Easter. [1913 Webster +PJC]

Definition of 'Easter'

From: GCIDE
  • Easter \East"er\, v. i. (Naut.) To veer to the east; -- said of the wind. --Russell. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Easter'

From: GCIDE
  • Easter \Eas"ter\ ([=e]s"t[~e]r), n. [AS. e['a]ster, e['a]stran, paschal feast, Easter; akin to G. ostern; fr. AS. E['a]stre, a goddess of light or spring, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated in April; whence this month was called in AS. E['a]sterm[=o]na[eth]. From the root of E. east. See East.]
  • 1. An annual church festival commemorating Christ's resurrection, and occurring on Sunday, the second day after Good Friday. It corresponds to the pascha or passover of the Jews, and most nations still give it this name under the various forms of pascha, pasque, p[^a]que, or pask. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. The day on which the festival is observed; Easter day. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Easter is used either adjectively or as the first element of a compound; as, Easter day or Easter-day, Easter Sunday, Easter week, Easter gifts, Easter eggs. [1913 Webster]
  • Sundays by thee more glorious break, An Easter day in every week. --Keble. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Easter day, on which the rest of the movable feasts depend, is always the first Sunday after the fourteenth day of the calendar moon which (fourteenth day) falls on, or next after, the 21st of March, according to the rules laid down for the construction of the calendar; so that if the fourteenth day happen on a Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday after. --Eng. Cyc. [1913 Webster]
  • Easter dues (Ch. of Eng.), money due to the clergy at Easter, formerly paid in communication of the tithe for personal labor and subject to exaction. For Easter dues, Easter offerings, voluntary gifts, have been substituted.
  • Easter egg. (a) A painted or colored egg used as a present at Easter. (b) An imitation of an egg, in sugar or some fine material, sometimes made to serve as a box for jewelry or the like, used as an Easter present. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Easter'

From: Easton
  • Easter originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honour of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover. Hence the name came to be given to the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occured at the time of the Passover. In the early English versions this word was frequently used as the translation of the Greek pascha (the Passover). When the Authorized Version (1611) was formed, the word "passover" was used in all passages in which this word pascha occurred, except in Act 12:4. In the Revised Version the proper word, "passover," is always used.

Synonyms of 'Easter'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Easter'