Definitions for Easter
ˈi stərEaster

Princeton's WordNet(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Easter(noun)

   a Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ; celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox

2. east wind, easter, easterly(noun)

   a wind from the east

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Easter(Noun)

   A Christian feast commemorating the resurrection of Christ; the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or next after the vernal equinox, neither earlier than March 22 nor later than April 25.

   We spent each of the past five Easters together as a family.

2. Easter(Noun)

   Eastertide

3. Easter(Noun)

   The Jewish passover.

4. Easter(Noun)

   A festival held in honour of the goddess Eostre or Ostara and celebrated at the spring equinox or within the month of April. Also known as Eostre.

5. easter(Adjective)

   Eastern.

Origin: Probably from Old English ēasterra

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Easter(noun)

   an annual church festival commemorating Christ's resurrection, and occurring on Sunday, the second day after Good Friday. It corresponds to the pasha or passover of the Jews, and most nations still give it this name under the various forms of pascha, pasque, paque, or pask

2. Easter(noun)

   the day on which the festival is observed; Easter day

3. Easter(verb)

   to veer to the east; -- said of the wind

Origin: [AS. ester, estran, paschal feast, Easter; akin to G. ostern; fr. AS. Estre, a goddess of light or spring, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated in April; whence this month was called in AS. Estermna. From the root of E. east. See East.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Easter

   Easter is a Christian festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament. Easter is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, and it contains the days of the Easter Triduum, including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Last Supper and its preceding foot washing, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Easter is followed by a fifty-day period called Eastertide, or the Easter Season, ending with Pentecost Sunday. Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. The First Council of Nicaea established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon following the March equinox. Ecclesiastically, the equinox is reckoned to be on 21 March, and the "Full Moon" is not necessarily the astronomically correct date. The date of Easter therefore varies between 22 March and 25 April. Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian calendar, whose 21 March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar, in which the celebration of Easter therefore varies between 4 April and 8 May.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Easter

   ēst′ėr, n. a Christian festival commemorating the resurrection of Christ, held on the Sunday after Good-Friday.—n. East′er-day, Easter Sunday.—ns.pl. East′er-dues, -off′erings, 'customary sums' which from time immemorial have been paid to the parson by his people at Easter.—ns. East′er-egg, eggs stained of various colours, given as presents on Easter; East′ertide, Eastertime, either Easter week or the fifty days between Easter and Whitsuntide. [A.S. éastre; Ger. ostern. Bede derives the word from Eastre, a goddess whose festival was held at the spring equinox.]

The Nuttall Encyclopedia(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Easter

   an important festival of the Church commemorating the resurrection of Christ; held on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the calendar which happens on or next after 21st of March, and constituting the beginning of the ecclesiastical year; the date of it determines the dates of other movable festivals; derives its name from Eastre, a Saxon goddess, whose festival was celebrated about the same time, and to which many of the Easter customs owe their origin.

Etymology and Origins(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Easter

   From the Teutonic Ostara, goddess of light or spring; rendered by the Anglo-Saxons Eastre. This great spring festival lasted eight days.

British National Corpus

1. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Easter' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2089

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Easter' in Nouns Frequency: #2037

Anagrams for Easter »

1. arêtes, aretes, eaters, reseat, saeter, seater, staree, teaser, Teresa

How to pronounce Easter?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say Easter in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Easter in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Easter in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of Easter in a Sentence

1. Frank Donato:

   This is pretty typical for a strong nor'easter.

2. Alpheus Mnculwane:

   I'm going to have an extra big batch to sell next month on Easter Friday.

3. Norma Davis:

   We do plan on having a wonderful Easter celebration with family and I can't wait to get him back.

4. Natalie Reeves:

   Happy Easter to me! this lawsuit was not what I wanted the Easter Bunny to bring me in his basket.

5. Tiffani Lee:

   She calmed down because we got to talking about nail polish. She had on pink and I had on Easter purple.

Images & Illustrations of Easter

Popularity rank by frequency of use