Easter in English and German (Ostern) are perhaps related to Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of love and fertility. In most languages with Christian societies, Easter is derived from Pesach, the Hebrew word for Passover (Paskha, Pasg, Paskir, Paisken). In Polish (Wielkanoc) Easter means “Great Night”; in Bulgarian, it means “Great Day.” In Serbian, it literally means “Resurrection.” In Hungarian it signifies “buying meat,” probably because it is the end of the Lenten season and people can resume eating meat. In Tongan, “Pekia” means “death of a Lord.”

Easter is a movable feast. It does not fall on any fixed date. Easter is observed on the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after March 21 (the day of the ecclesiastical vernal equinox). This year the Western and Eastern Orthodox churches will celebrate Easter on April 8 in spite of their different calendars. Russian for Sunday is “Resurrection.”

Dr. Serge Lecomte graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in linguistics. He taught Russian and Spanish at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He has lived in the Homer area since 1999 and writes plays and novels for fun.