Etymograph

English

Easter

Easter comes from Old English ēastre, perhaps named after the goddess Ēastre, from Proto-West Germanic *Austrā ‘Easter’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ ‘Easter; goddess of spring’.

  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

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English Easter
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “After two dayes folowed eſter⸝ and the dayes of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*AustrǭWiktionary, English Easter‘Easter; goddess of spring’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*AustrāWiktionary, English Easter‘Easter’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ĒastreWiktionary, English Easter‘a dawn goddess’uncertain
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ēastreWiktionary, English Easter
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500esterWiktionary, English Easter
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1526EasterWiktionary, English Easter. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “After two dayes folowed eſter⸝ and the dayes of…”

The story

The noun is derived from Middle English ester, from Old English ēastre, seemingly from Ēastre, a proposed Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn whose festival is thought to have been celebrated around the vernal equinox. Further from Proto-West Germanic *Austrā, from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, derived from either Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (‘dawn; east’) or, more semantically plausible, from *austrą, *auzrą, a metathesized form of *wazrą (‘spring (season)’), *-ǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥ (‘spring’). The English word is cognate with German Low German Oostern (‘Easter’), Old High German ōstarūn (modern German Ostern) and is possibly a doublet of east. Despite a modern folk etymology, not related to Ishtar.folk etymology The source marks this as unproven or a folk etymology. Quoted, not asserted.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- ‘to become light’

or, air, plane, aurora, aerial, malaria, exhaust, aura, aria, aero, aureus, eastward, aurelia, oriel, oriole, austral, aurum, 62 more

Today it means

noun A Christian feast commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on the first Sunday (and Monday) following the full moon that occurs on or next after the vernal equinox, ranging in most of Western Christianity (such as Protestantism and Roman Catholicism) from March 22 to April 25, and in Eastern Christianity (such as the Coptic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church) from April 4 t

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “Easter”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ / Easter

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