Eostre

English

Alternative forms

• Ēostre

Etymology

A learned borrowing from Old English Ēostre, the Northumbrian variant of West Saxon Ēastre (“a word referring to "the rising dawn" to indicate the season of Spring”) and ēastre (“Easter”), from Proto-West Germanic *Austrā, from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ (“Easter, springtime”). Doublet of Easter.

Proper noun

Eostre

1. A hypothesised West Germanic goddess, supposedly of the spring season, but of uncertain provenance.
   • 1922, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, The Old English Herbals, London: Longmans, Green and Co., page 3:

     There were also Nature deities, Hrede, the personification of the brightness of Summer, and Eostra, the radiant creature of the Dawn. It will be remembered that it was the worship, not of Balder, but of Eostra, which the Christian missionaries found so deeply imbedded that they adopted her name and transferred it to Easter.

2. (paganism) A neopagan festival celebrated either in March or April to welcome the Spring, also called Ostara or Easter.

Anagrams

• Rosete, STEREO, e-store, erotes, stereo, stereo-

Old English

Alternative forms

• Ēastre

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *austrā, from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, from a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“dawn”). Cognate with Old Frisian āsteron, Old High German ōstarūn (German Ostern).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈe͜oːs.tre/

Noun

Ēostre f (Northumbrian)

1. The goddess Easter
   • 725, Bede, De temporum ratione, Northumbria:

     Eostur-monath, qui nunc Paschalis mensis interpretatur, quondam a Dea illorum quæ Eostre vocabatur, et cui in illo festa celebrabant nomen habuit: a cujus nomine nunc Paschale tempus cognominant, consueto antiquæ observationis vocabulo gaudia novæ solemnitatis vocantes.

     Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated "Paschal month", and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.

Declension

Weak n-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	Ēostre	—
accusative	Ēostran	—
genitive	Ēostran	—
dative	Ēostran	—

Derived terms

• ēastermōnaþ

Descendants

• Middle English: Eestour, Ester, Yestre
  • English: Easter
    • → Chickasaw: Iista'
  • Scots: Easter