• +41 445000290
  • Shop
  • My Berlitz
    • My Berlitz
    • Log In
    • Sign In
  • Language
    • Language
    • de
    • en
    • fr
  • Contact

Free trial lessons

Over 140 years of experience

Guaranteed goal achievement

Berlitz School of Languages: Language Courses, Advanced training, Intercultural Communication +41 445000290
  • Berlitz School of Languages: Language Courses, Advanced training, Intercultural Communication
  • Corporations
    Corporate Language Training
    Business Seminars
    Subsidized training
    Corporate services
    Course offer
  • Individuals
    Individual instruction
    Group instruction
    Online training
    Testing
    Course offer
  • Kids & Teens
    Live classroom instruction
    Course offer
  • About
    Why Berlitz
    Career
    Contact us
  • Courses
    Our course offer
    Contact us
  • Language Schools
    • Course offer
  • Corporations
    • Corporate Language Training
    • Business Seminars
    • Subsidized training
    • Corporate services
    • Course offer ›
  • Individuals
    • Individual instruction
    • Group instruction
    • Online training
    • Testing
    • Course offer ›
  • Kids & Teens
    • Live classroom instruction
    • Course offer ›
  • About
    • Why Berlitz
    • Career
    • Contact us ›
  • Courses
    • Our course offer
    • Contact us ›
  • Language Schools
  • Shop Shop
  • My Berlitz My Berlitz
    • Log In
    • Sign In
  • Language Language
    • de
    • en
    • fr
  • Contact Contact
← Back to overview

Where does the word ‘Easter’ really come from? No one knows for sure...
March 27, 2018

From a theological perspective, Easter is the most significant of the Christian festivals and it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In popular belief, Easter is also the classical Spring festival which displays traditional symbols of fertility, such as the rabbit and the egg. However, where the Easter tradition of gifting eggs comes from is as unclear as the origin of the word ‘Easter’ itself. In the run up to the holidays, the question concerning the word’s true origin often arises. But those expecting a concrete scientific answer will be disappointed. Scholars of linguistics are not in agreement when it comes to the etymological problem surrounding the word ‘Easter’. There are at least three theories, which are as follows:

Theory 1: A spring goddess named Ostara

The German scholar of language and literature, Jacob Grimm (1785-1863), derived the term ‘Easter’ from the Old High German word ‘Ostara’ (German ‘Ostern’, English ‘Easter’). This term can be traced back to a supposed Germanic spring goddess, who apparently gave the spring festival of Easter its name. Jacob Grimm here referred to the Anglo-Saxon church historian Beda, who told of a Germanic goddess named Eostra. The existence of such a goddess cannot be proven from the available sources, therefore this theory is considered obsolete. However, Grimm’s assumptions were very well received amongst his contemporaries and are still very popular today.

Theory 2: ‘Easter’ comes from ‘east’

The second theory arises from the possibility that the word ‘Easter’ could be linked to the word ‘east’. The compass point at which the sun rises is a symbol of resurrection. The word ‘east’ forms a word family together with the Latin word ‘auster’ (southerly wind), the Old Slavic ‘zaustra’ (morning) and the Greek ‘eos’ and Latin ‘aurora’ (both meaning dawn). According to this theory, Easter was the festival of the morning and the sunrise. This assumption is however being refuted by the theological view that the festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ places the greatest significance on the night, not the morning.

Theory 3: Easter is connected to baptism

Jürgen Udolph, a linguist from Leipzig, took his research in a completely different direction and thus opened up the third theory. He refers to a word family from the North Germanic languages, which in his opinion fits with Easter: ‘ausa’ (to pour water) and ‘austr’ (to douse). According to Jürgen Udolph, the word ‘Easter’ thus instead relates to baptism, which in the early days of Christianity was closely linked to the Easter festival and the central event of the Easter Vigil.

Tags: Linguistics

QUALITÄT UND SICHERHEIT

Hotline: +41 800 252500

GET IN TOUCH
  • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Blog
  • Our Language Centers
  • Berlitz Worldwide
SERVICE
  • Free Trial Lessons
  • Online Placement Test
  • Language Course Offers
  • Vacancies
LANGUAGE TESTS
  • TELC (German, English, French)
Berlitz Schools of Languages AG – Speak with Confidence
  • Imprint
  • Data Protection
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Sitemap

Hotline

Our hotline phone number:

+41 445000290

Hours of availability:

Monday - Friday: 9 am to 18 pm
 

Berlitz Center

Language school Basel

Gerbergasse 4

CH-4051 Basel

Phone: +41 61 226 90 40

Contact

Language school Bern

Aarbergergasse 30

CH-3011 Bern

Phone: +41 31 310 08 80

Contact

Language school Genève Carrefour de Rive

Carrefour de Rive 1

CH-1207 Geneve

Phone: +41 22 718 38 90

Contact

Language school Lausanne

Rue de la Louve 1

CH-1003 Lausanne

Phone: +41 21 341 03 50

Contact

Language school Luzern

Hirschmattstrasse 3 (3. OG)

CH-6003 Luzern

Phone: +41 41 560 00 16

Contact

Language school Zug

Bundesplatz 2

CH-6300 Zug

Phone: +41 41 560 00 16

Contact

Language school Zürich

Am Bellevue Theaterstrasse 12

CH-8001 Zurich

Phone: +41 44 254 20 70

Contact