Easter
noun /ˈiːstə(r)/
/ˈiːstər/
- [uncountable, countable] (also Easter Day, Easter Sunday)(in the Christian religion) a Sunday in March or April when Christians remember the death of Christ and his return to life
- Many people attend an Easter service at their local church.
Extra ExamplesTopics Religion and festivalsb1- Easter is early this year.
- the Easter story in the Bible
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- early
- late
- have
- spend
- celebrate
- …
- egg
- celebrations
- festival
- …
- at Easter
- for Easter
- over Easter
- …
- Happy Easter!
- wish somebody a happy Easter
- (also Eastertime)the period that includes Easter Day and the days close to it
- the Easter holidays/vacation
Culture EasterEasterEaster is a holiday in late March or early April, the first Sunday after the first full moon after 21 March. Many people spend it with their family or have a short holiday. It is also an important Christian festival. Easter Sunday, the day of the Resurrection (= the day when Christians believe Christ rose from the dead and became alive again), is the end of Lent and the most important date in the Christian year. Many people who do not go to church at other times go on Easter Sunday. It was once common for people to wear new clothes to church on this day. Women wore new hats, called Easter bonnets. Today, people sometimes make decorated Easter bonnets for fun. A few people send Easter cards with religious symbols on them or pictures of small chickens, lambs, rabbits and spring flowers, all associated with Easter.The Friday before Easter Sunday is called Good Friday and is remembered as the day Christ was crucified. The Monday after Easter is called Easter Monday. In England and Wales, Good Friday and Easter Monday are both bank holidays. In Scotland, only Good Friday is an official public holiday, but many offices close on the Monday anyway. In the US, each company decides for itself whether to close or remain open on those days.Children look forward to Easter Sunday because they are given chocolate Easter eggs. These are also popular with adults and millions are sold in the weeks before Easter. Many are packed in coloured shiny paper in boxes decorated with pictures of cartoon characters. Some shops write the person's name on the egg with icing (NAmE frosting). Inside each egg are sweets or chocolates. Smaller eggs with a sweet cream inside are also popular. Some families have an Easter egg hunt and hide small chocolate eggs in the house and garden for the children to search for. Eggs represent new life and the start of spring, and it is traditional for children to colour the shells of real eggs at home, especially in the US. In some parts of Britain Easter is a time for events such as egg-rolling. hot cross buns (= fruit buns decorated with a simple cross) are also eaten around Easter. Particularly in the US, children wake up on Easter morning hoping that the Easter bunny has been. The Easter bunny is an imaginary rabbit, and parents tell their children that it goes from house to house while they are sleeping. The Easter bunny brings an Easter basket with chocolate eggs and other sweet things, or hides in the house small plastic eggs filled with sweets or little presents. When they wake up, the children run around the house trying to find the eggs. The Easter bunny also often brings chocolate in the shape of a rabbit.Extra Examples- Have a good Easter.
- I prefer to spend Easter at home.
- Our next holiday is at Easter.
- The house opens to the public at Easter.
- The library is closed over Easter.
- We usually go away for Easter.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- early
- late
- have
- spend
- celebrate
- …
- egg
- celebrations
- festival
- …
- at Easter
- for Easter
- over Easter
- …
- Happy Easter!
- wish somebody a happy Easter
Word OriginOld English ēastre; of Germanic origin and related to German Ostern and east; perhaps from Ēastre, the name of a goddess associated with spring.