1. [n]  a wind from the east
2. [n]  a Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Christ; celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox

Easter
Simple text and photographs describe the history of Easter and the many ways in which it is celebrated.

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1. \Eas"ter\, n. [AS. e['a]ster, e['a]stran, paschal feast,
   Easter; akin to G. ostern; fr. AS. E['a]stre, a goddess of
   light or spring, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated
   in April; whence this month was called in AS.
   E['a]sterm[=o]na[eth]. From the root of E. east. See {East}.]
   1. An annual church festival commemorating Christ's
      resurrection, and occurring on Sunday, the second day
      after Good Friday. It corresponds to the pasha or passover
      of the Jews, and most nations still give it this name
      under the various forms of pascha, pasque, p[^a]que, or
      pask.
   2. The day on which the festival is observed; Easter day.
   Note: Easter is used either adjectively or as the first
         element of a compound; as, Easter day or Easter-day,
         Easter Sunday, Easter week, Easter gifts.
               Sundays by thee more glorious break, An Easter
               day in every week.                 --Keble.
   Note: Easter day, on which the rest of the movable feasts
         depend, is always the first Sunday after the fourteenth
         day of the calendar moon which (fourteenth day) falls
         on, or next after, the 21st of March, according to the
         rules laid down for the construction of the calendar;
         so that if the fourteenth day happen on a Sunday,
         Easter day is the Sunday after. --Eng. Cyc.
   {Easter dues} (Ch. of Eng.), money due to the clergy at
      Easter, formerly paid in communication of the tithe for
      personal labor and subject to exaction. For Easter dues,
      Easter offerings, voluntary gifts, have been substituted.
   {Easter egg}.
      (a) A painted or colored egg used as a present at Easter.
      (b) An imitation of an egg, in sugar or some fine
          material, sometimes made to serve as a box for jewelry
          or the like, used as an Easter present.
   

2. \East"er\, v. i. (Naut.)
   To veer to the east; -- said of the wind. --Russell.
   

originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honour of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover. Hence the name came to be given to the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occured at the time of the Passover. In the early English versions this word was frequently used as the translation of the Greek pascha (the Passover). When the Authorized Version (1611) was formed, the word "passover" was used in all passages in which this word pascha occurred, except in Act 12:4. In the Revised Version the proper word, "passover," is always used.