EASTER (easter)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: easter   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Easter mean? 

• EASTER (noun)
  The noun EASTER has 2 senses:

1. a Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ; celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox

2. a wind from the east

  Familiarity information: EASTER used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EASTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ; celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("Easter" is a kind of...):

movable feast; moveable feast (a religious holiday that falls on different dates in different years)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Easter"):

Pasch; Pascha (the Christian festival of Easter)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A wind from the east

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

east wind; easter; easterly

Hypernyms ("easter" is a kind of...):

air current; current of air; wind (air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "easter"):

levanter (an easterly wind in the western Mediterranean area)

Derivation:

easterly (from the east; used especially of winds)

 Context examples 

I have sometimes thought of going to London again after Easter, and sometimes resolved on doing nothing till she returns to Mansfield.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

We’re in for a sou’-easter.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I do not know, my dear—but it is so long since she was here!—not since last Easter, and then only for a few days.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Easter was approaching, and the week preceding it was to bring an addition to the family at Rosings, which in so small a circle must be important.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The dwarf planet, discovered in 2005, is named for a creation deity of the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island.

(Hubble Discovers Moon Orbiting the Dwarf Planet Makemake, NASA)

A new study employed quantitative spatial analysis to establish that the platforms, or ahu, built to support the Easter Island statues, or moai, are usually located near sources of drinkable water.

(Scientists report correlation between locations of Easter Island statues and water resources, Wikinews)

After the Easter recess, Sir George Lynn, who was lately elected member for Millcote, will have to go up to town and take his seat; I daresay Mr. Rochester will accompany him: it surprises me that he has already made so protracted a stay at Thornfield.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The Palmers were to remove to Cleveland about the end of March, for the Easter holidays; and Mrs. Jennings, with both her friends, received a very warm invitation from Charlotte to go with them.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

I go to Lady Stornaway after Easter; she seems in high spirits, and very happy.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Easter Island does not have streams that run nonstop but it does have an aquifer that produces freshwater seeps of brackish but drinkable water during low tide.

(Scientists report correlation between locations of Easter Island statues and water resources, Wikinews)