Q&A: Why is it called ‘Easter’?

Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, hot crossed words…

Q: Hi AWC, where does the word “Easter” come from?

A: Well, it was originally called “Yeaster” – because just as yeast helps bread to rise, it also allowed Christ to be risen.

Q: Really?

A: Nope.

Q: I hate you.

A: Sorry, but unfortunately there is no definitive answer to where the name “Easter” comes from. There are however a few solid theories.

Q: Okay, let’s have those then.

A: The first one involves an English monk from the 8th century named Bede, the Venerable.

Q: Wow, some title there Bede.

A: So when Bede wasn’t er… monk-eying about, he was a historian who was very interested in the early Anglo-Saxon church. And in one of his written works, he linked the origin of the term “Easter” to the pagan goddess “Eostre”.

Q: They do seem rather similar.

A: It gets better, because in the northern hemisphere spring (March-April), an important pagan festival was based around Eostre, who just happened to be the goddess of fertility. Her symbol was even a hare.

Q: The Easter bunny!

A: Yep. According to Bede, the pagans called the celebration month “eosturmonath”. 

Q: So case closed – it looks like a slam dunk for the goddess, right?

A: Not so fast. Bede’s is the only record stating this link and it’s also a little weird they stuck with a pagan name rather than replacing it, like they’d done with Christmas (which replaced the pagan festival name “Yuletide”).

Q: Hmmmm, so maybe it’s Bede, the Unreliable.

A: Perhaps.

Q: What other theories are there?

A: The more etymologically sound theory links to an Old German word – a common origin of English words. That word was ‘eostarum’ and it meant “dawn”. Simply put, spring time is when the days start getting longer (in the northern hemisphere) and where does the sun rise?

Q: In the sky?

A: Well yes, but in which direction.

Q: It’s rising, so… um, up?

A: The answer we wanted was EAST.

Q: Ooooooh. Got it. Sorry.

A: We don’t normally get down to the roots of words, but in this case the Proto-Indo-European root of “east” is “aus–” meaning “towards the dawn”.

Q: Hang on, so “Australia” is all about being in the east?

A: That gets a little tricky. The country name comes from “austral” – which while having the same dawn-related root, it was actually coined in the 1500s from the Latin ‘Australis’ meaning “southern, of or pertaining to the south”.

Q: How confusing. So the same root gave us “east” and “south”.

A: Yep, like twins with different personalities, even though they came from the same root.

Q: So to recap, we don’t know exactly how “Easter” got its name but somehow it has persisted through until today.

A: That’s right. 

Q: But what do they call it in the Bible?

A: Well, that’s like saying why didn’t Mary and Joseph book accommodation ahead of time, it being the Christmas season. These events were where it all started.

Q: Oh yeah.

A: That being said, there WAS an existing Jewish holiday taking place in the lead up to the death of Jesus – in Hebrew it was called “Pesach” (“Pascha” in Greek and Latin). This celebration continues today, translated in the 1530s as the word “Passover” – marking the freeing of Israelites from slavery as documented in the Old Testament book of Exodus.

Q: I may have passed over that one when skimming the Bible.

A: The word “paschal” also remains an adjective to describe anything relating to Passover and Easter.

Q: But the two are different celebrations, yeah?

A: Yeah, it’s a little weird like that. Passover lasts 7-8 nights and celebrates Moses, while Easter is shorter and celebrates Jesus. But they occur at very similar times and “paschal” can refer to either.

Q: Speaking of times, it’s not strictly word-related, but WHY does Easter jump all over the calendar? Is it because it likes to hop like a bunny?

A: Cute, but no. It goes back to that pagan festival. In the case of Easter, each year it occurs on the Sunday after the first full moon – known as the “paschal full moon” – following the Spring (northern hemisphere) equinox.

Q: Oh my.

A: The equinox always falls on about 21 March. So that means that depending on what the moon is doing each year, Easter could fall anywhere between 22 March and 25 April. By the way, this is for the Western Easter using the Gregorian calendar, while Orthodox Easter (using the Julian calendar) is usually later.

Q: I think I’ve heard enough Easter facts for one day. I need a lie down. Wake me up in three days…

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