Definition of Easter

1. Noun. A Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ; celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

Generic synonyms: Movable Feast, Moveable Feast
Specialized synonyms: Pasch, Pascha

2. Noun. A wind from the east.
Exact synonyms: East Wind, Easterly
Specialized synonyms: Levanter
Generic synonyms: Air Current, Current Of Air, Wind
Derivative terms: Easterly

Definition of Easter

1. n. 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, pâque, or pask.

2. v. i. To veer to the east; -- said of the wind.

Definition of Easter

1. Noun. (Christianity) 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. ¹

2. Noun. Eastertide ¹

3. Noun. (obsolete) The Jewish passover. ¹

4. Noun. (context paganism) 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. ¹

5. Adjective. (obsolete) Eastern. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Easter

1. a wind or storm from the east [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Easter

east-central
east-northeast
east-southeast
east African cedar
east by north
east by northeast
east by south
east northeast
east side
east southeast
east wind
eastbound
easted
easter (current term)
easter proteinase
easterlies
easterliness
easterling
easterly
eastermost
eastern
eastern United States
eastern chimpanzee
eastern chinquapin
eastern chipmunk
eastern coral snake
eastern cottontail
eastern cricket frog

Literary usage of Easter

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing by Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff, Albert Hauck (1909)
"For the following period the more important problem was the calculation of the term of Passover and easter. In Asia Minor this question was not raised. ..."

2. Publishers Weekly by Publishers' Board of Trade (U.S.), Book Trade Association of Philadelphia, American Book Trade Union, Am. Book Trade Association, R.R. Bowker Company (1894)
"'s easter Booklets lor 1894. A NEW CAROL BY PHILLIPS BROOKS. The easter Flower. ... An easter Blossom. Shape of a rose. 3 pages, 15 cents. Christ is Risen. ..."

3. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion by James George Frazer (1900)
"However, firing goes on more or less continuously all over the city both on easter Saturday and easter Sunday, and the cartridges used on this occasion are ..."

4. Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea by Richard Henry Dana, Charles Welsh (1907)
"This wind (the south-easter) is the bane of the coast of California. ... As it was January when we arrived, and the middle of the south-easter season, ..."

5. American Book Prices Current by Katherine Kyes Leab, Daniel J Leab (1906)
"From Michaelmas Term, 1680, to easter and Trinity Term, 1709. ... From Hilary Term, 1696, to easter Trinity, 1707), Eames, A., Mar. 8, '06. (1556) $27.50. ..."

6. The Quarterly Review by William Gifford, George Walter Prothero, John Gibson Lockhart, John Murray, Whitwell Elwin, John Taylor Coleridge, Rowland Edmund Prothero Ernle, William Macpherson, William Smith (1818)
"AY hilst this hallucination lasts it conjures up the spectres of the dead before them. AKT. XII.—Investigation of the Came of easter, 1818, being appointed ..."

7. The Church History of Britain, from the Birth of Jesus Christ Until the Year by Thomas Fuller, James Nichols (1842)
"Thus Oswy, king of Northumberland, was of the Scottish persuasion, whilst his queen and eldest son 'were of the Romish opinion, in celebration of easter. ..."

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