The English word “Easter”is derived from the name Eostre, a Germanic goddess called *Austrō in Proto-Germanic, and ultimately comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂ews-, meaning “dawn” or “east”.
…and this is reflected in its most common name, derived from Latin Pascha. This etymology is shown in red on the above map.The holiday is mostly called “Big Night(s)”, “Big Day(s)” (both in shades of blue) or “Resurrection of Christ” (green) in Slavic languages.
Interestingly, Latvian “Lieldienas” (light blue) also means “Big Days”, but “Liel-” is not etymologically related to “Vel-” in Slavic languages.Hungarian húsvét literally means “meat-taking”. Finnish pääsiäinen and similar expressions in Sami languages are derived from the verb päästä, which has many different meanings, one of which is “to escape” or “to be free”…Article Source: https://jakubmarian.com
