In the mean while, as our apartment was a corner one, and looked both east and north, I ran to the easter casement to look after Drummond.1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Oxford, published 2010, page 57:
This is properly two, if not three towns — there being an Easter Anstruther and a Wester Anstruther, both burghs, besides a large fishing village […]1828, The Picture of Scotland, page 187:
3 more examples
There had been a Little and a Meikle, and an Easter and a Wester Coull two centuries ago; and there had been a castle on the property […]1885, Alex Johnston Warden, Angus Or Forfarshire: The Land and People, Descriptive and Historical, page 204:
It is styled, as we have seen, Wester Rires, which implies an Easter Rires; and this last portion of it probably lay to the north-east, and included […]1887, Walter Wood, The East Neuk of Fife: Its History and Antiquities, page 118:
'The fact remains that there is an Easter Fintry and a Wester Fintry in this part of the world. Just as there is an Easter Golford and a Wester Golford, ...2011, J.I.M. Stewart, Mungo's Dream, House of Stratus, →ISBN, page 219:
Etymology From Old English eastera, eastra. Compare norther, souther, wester.
1
An easterly wind (a wind blowing from the east); especially, a strong one; a storm of such winds.
A northeaster in one place may be an easter, a norther, or a souther in some other locality.1902, John Burroughs, Locusts and Wild Honey, page 81:
easter
verb
Etymology From Old English eastera, eastra. Compare norther, souther, wester.
1
To move toward the east.
Off Tilbury the Alcyone's topsail-yard was carried away just forward of the slings; she set a jib-headed one; at Thames Haven the wind eastered ...1871, Hunt's Yachting Magazine, page 265:
At 5 the wind eastered and came E. by N., that we went 2 knots […] .1940(?), Thomas Allen, The Journals of Sir Thomas Allin, 1660-1678
Easter
noun
UK /ˈiːstə/ · US /ˈistəɹ/
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English Ester, from Old English ēastre, seemingly from Ēastre, a proposed Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn whose festival is thought to have been celebrated around the vernal equinox. Further from Proto-West Germanic *Austrā, from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, derived from either Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“dawn; east”) or, more semantically plausible, from *austrą, *auzrą, a metathesized form of *wazrą (“spring (season)”), *-ǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥ (“spring”). The English word is cognate with German Low German Oostern (“Easter”), Old High German ōstarūn (modern German Ostern) and is possibly a doublet of east. Despite a modern folk etymology, not related to Ishtar. The verb is derived from the noun.
1
Christianity A Christian feast commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on the first Sunday (and Monday) following the full moon that occurs on or next after the vernal equinox, ranging in most of Western Christianity (such as Protestantism and Roman Catholicism) from March 22 to April 25, and in Eastern Christianity (such as the Coptic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church) from April 4 to May 8.
We spent each of the past five Easters together as a family.
During the Easter season, the Russians are planning “a great battle in Donbas,” the Russian-occupied region in Ukraine’s far east. “This is not Christian behavior at all, as I understand it. On Easter they will kill, and they will be killed.”2022 April 15, Anne Applebaum, Jeffrey Goldberg, quoting Volodymyr Zelensky, “LIBERATION WITHOUT VICTORY”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2022:
2
Christianity Eastertide (“the period from Easter to Whitsun”).
Lifestyle, Paganism, Religion A festival held in honour of the goddess Eostre or Ostara, celebrated at the vernal equinox or within the month of April; Eostre, Ostara.
After two dayes folowed eſter⸝ and the dayes of ſwete breed. And the hye preſtꝭ [prestis] and ſcrybꝭ [scrybis] ſought meanes⸝ howe they myght take hym [Jesus] by crafte and putt hym to deeth.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell off S. Marke xiiij:[1], folio lxv, verso:
The noun is derived from Middle English Ester, from Old English ēastre, seemingly from Ēastre, a proposed Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn whose festival is thought to have been celebrated around the vernal equinox. Further from Proto-West Germanic *Austrā, from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, derived from either Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“dawn; east”) or, more semantically plausible, from *austrą, *auzrą, a metathesized form of *wazrą (“spring (season)”), *-ǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥ (“spring”). The English word is cognate with German Low German Oostern (“Easter”), Old High German ōstarūn (modern German Ostern) and is possibly a doublet of east. Despite a modern folk etymology, not related to Ishtar. The verb is derived from the noun.