Etymograph / Myth vs. record / Easter

Myth vs. record

Easter

Every word has its own definition in its root. Some words also carry a story about where they came from. Here is what Wiktionary says about the story, and what the record shows.

What Wiktionary says about the story

Despite a modern folk etymology, not related to Ishtar.

The record

Easter may come from Old English Ēastre ‘a dawn goddess’, from Proto-West Germanic *Austrā ‘Easter’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ.

1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*Austrǭ¹‘Easter; goddess of spring’reconstructed
2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*Austrā¹‘Easter’reconstructed
3. Old Englishc. 450–1150Ēastre¹‘a dawn goddess’uncertain
4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ēastre¹
5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ester¹
6. Englishearliest quotation 1526Easter¹

The full lineage of Easter →