Easter
Americannoun
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an annual Christian festival in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, as calculated according to tables based in Western churches on the Gregorian calendar and in Orthodox churches on the Julian calendar.
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Also called Easter Sunday. the day on which this festival is celebrated.
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the Easter season; the week following Easter.
noun
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the most important festival of the Christian Church, commemorating the Resurrection of Christ: falls on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox
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Also called: Easter Sunday, Easter Day. the day on which this festival is celebrated
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the period between Good Friday and Easter Monday
Usage
What is Easter? Easter is the holiday on which Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus following his crucifixion and death (observed on Good Friday). It is considered the most important Christian holiday. Easter is also widely observed in secular (nonreligious) ways and is often associated with rebirth and the start of springtime. Easter always occurs on a Sunday, and the day is sometimes called Easter Sunday. In religious contexts, Easter can also refer to the Easter season. Sometimes, this is considered to consist of Easter Sunday and the week after. Some branches of Christianity consider the Easter season to last for 50 days, until the day of Pentecost.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Easter
First recorded before 900; Middle English ester, Old English ēastre; cognate with German Ostern; originally the name of a goddess and her festival; akin to east
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Greg really likes everything to be local, to have these little Easter eggs for someone that lives there.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
The atmosphere softened for an a cappella version of 'Grace', the well-known Irish ballad linked to the 1916 Easter Rising, before the national anthem rang out.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Sanchez was arrested shortly afterward, but Easter fled the scene and wasn’t found until Wednesday, when he surrendered and was taken into custody, the CHP statement said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
The estimated upper limit of s’mores sales for Hershey during peak season, roughly between Easter and Labor Day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Jerusalem woke to a blizzard for the first time in fifty years on Easter Sunday.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
