Easter(n.)
“Easter day”在古英语中为 Easterdæg,源自于 Eastre(北安布里亚语为 Eostre),来自于原始日耳曼语 *austron-, 意为“黎明”,也可能是一个女神的名字,她的节日在 Eastermonað(与 April 相对应的盎格鲁-撒克逊月份)庆祝,来自于 *aust- “向东,朝向日出”(比较 east),源自于 PIE 词根 *aus-(1)“发光”,尤其是黎明。
贝德写道,盎格鲁-撒克逊基督徒采用了她的名字来称呼他们复活节的弥撒。几乎所有邻国语言都使用拉丁语 Pascha 的变体来称呼这个节日(见 paschal)。
Easter egg最早见于1825年,早期为 pace egg(1610年代)。Easter bunny最早见于1904年的儿童课程; Easter rabbit 则为1888年; 复活节的异教徒习俗似乎在约1900年变得流行; 在此之前,它们仅限于德国移民。
If the children have no garden, they make nests in the wood-shed, barn, or house. They gather colored flowers for the rabbit to eat, that it may lay colored eggs. If there be a garden, the eggs are hidden singly in the green grass, box-wood, or elsewhere. On Easter Sunday morning they whistle for the rabbit, and the children imagine that they see him jump the fence. After church, on Easter Sunday morning, they hunt the eggs, and in the afternoon the boys go out in the meadows and crack eggs or play with them like marbles. Or sometimes children are invited to a neighbor's to hunt eggs. [Phebe Earle Gibbons, "Pennsylvania Dutch," Philadelphia, 1882]
如果孩子们没有花园,他们会在木棚、谷仓或房子里做巢。他们采集彩色的花给兔子吃,这样它就会下彩蛋。如果有花园,蛋会单独藏在绿草、黄杨或其他地方。在复活节星期天早上,他们会吹口哨召唤兔子,孩子们想象他们看到兔子跳过篱笆。复活节星期天的教堂之后,他们会寻找彩蛋,下午男孩们会到草地上去砸蛋或像弹珠一样玩。有时孩子们会被邀请到邻居家寻找彩蛋。[菲比·厄尔·吉本斯,“宾夕法尼亚荷兰人”,费城,1882年]