Easter Island Look up Easter Island at Dictionary.com
so called because it was discovered by Du. navigator Jakob Roggeveen on April 2, 1722, which was Easter Monday. It had been earlier visited by English pirate Edward Davis (1695), but he neglected to name it. The native Polynesian name is Mata-kite-ran "Eyes that Watch the Stars."
Easter Look up Easter at Dictionary.com
O.E. Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from P.Gmc. *Austron, a goddess of fertility and sunrise whose feast was celebrated at the spring equinox, from *austra-, from PIE *aus- "to shine" (especially of the dawn). Bede says Anglo-Saxon Christians adopted her name and many of the celebratory practices for their Mass of Christ's resurrection. Ultimately related to east. Almost all neighboring languages use a variant of Latin Pasche to name this holiday.
paschal Look up paschal at Dictionary.com
1427, "of or pertaining to Easter," from L.L. paschalis, from pascha "Passover, Easter," from Gk. pascha "Passover," from Aramaic pasha "pass over," corresponding to Heb. pesah, from pasah "to pass over" (see Passover). Pasche was an early M.E. term for "Easter" (see Easter).
Florida Look up Florida at Dictionary.com
U.S. state, formerly a Sp. colony, probably from Sp. Pascua florida, lit. "flowering Easter," a Sp. name for Palm Sunday, because the peninsula was discovered on that day (March 20, 1513) by the expedition of Sp. explorer Ponce de León.
Cuzco Look up Cuzco at Dictionary.com
city in Peru, former capital of the Inca Empire, from Quechua (Inca), lit. "navel," in a figurative meaning "center" (of the world, as the navel is the center of the body). Other places known as "navel of the world" include Delphi, Jerusalem, Rome, Easter Island, and Mount Kailash in Tibet.
quasimodo Look up quasimodo at Dictionary.com
"Low Sunday," 1706, Quasimodo Sunday, from L. quasi modo, first words of introit for the first Sunday after Easter: quasi modo geniti infantes "as newborn babes" (1 Pet. ii:2). The hunchback in Victor Hugo's novel was supposed to have been abandoned as an infant at Notre Dame on this day.
Pentecost Look up Pentecost at Dictionary.com
O.E. Pentecosten "Christian festival on seventh Sunday after Easter," from L.L. pentecoste, from Gk. pentekoste hemera "fiftieth day," fem. of pentekostos, from pentekonta "fifty," from pente "five." The Hellenic name for the O.T. Feast of Weeks, a Jewish harvest festival observed on 50th day of the Omer (see Lev. xxiii:16). Pentecostal in ref. to "Christian sect emphasizing gifts of the Holy Spirit" (Acts ii) is attested from 1904.
Lent Look up Lent at Dictionary.com
short for Lenten, from O.E. lencten "spring," the season, from W.Gmc. *langa-tinaz (cf. O.S. lentin, M.Du. lenten, O.H.G. lengizin manoth), from *lanngaz (root of O.E. lang "long") + *tina-, a root meaning "day" (cf. Goth. sin-teins "daily"), cognate with O.C.S. dini, Lith. diena, L. dies "day." the compound probably refers to the increasing daylight. Church sense of "period between Ash Wednesday and Easter" is peculiar to Eng.
Monday Look up Monday at Dictionary.com
O.E. monandęg "day of the moon," from mona (gen. monan) + dęg (see day). Common Gmc. (cf. O.N. manandagr, O.Fris. monendei, Ger. Montag) loan-translation of L.L. Lunę dies, source of the day name in Romance languages (cf. Fr. lundi, It. lunedi, Sp. lunes), itself a loan-translation of Gk. selenes hemera. The name for this day in Slavic tongues generally means "day after Sunday." Phrase Monday morning quarterback is attested from 1932, Monday being the first day back at work after the weekend, when school and college football games were played. Black Monday (1359) is the Monday after Easter day, though how it got its reputation for bad luck is a mystery. Saint Monday (1753) was "used with reference to the practice among workmen of being idle Monday, as a consequence of drunkenness on the Sunday" before [OED]. Clergymen, meanwhile, when indisposed complained of feeling Mondayish (1804) in ref. to effects of Sunday's labors.
north Look up north at Dictionary.com
O.E. norš, from P.Gmc. *nurtha- (cf. O.N. noršr, O.Fris. north, M.Du. nort, Du. noord, Ger. nord), possibly ult. from PIE *ner- "left," also "below," as north is to the left when one faces the rising sun (cf. Skt. narakah "hell," Gk. enerthen "from beneath," Oscan-Umbrian nertrak "left"). The same notion underlies Ir. tuaisceart "north." The usual word for "north" in the Romance languages is ultimately from English, cf. O.Fr. north (Fr. nord), borrowed from O.E. norš; It., Sp. norte are borrowed from O.Fr. North-easter "wind blowing from the northeast" is from 1794. North American first used 1766, by Franklin. Northwest Passage first attested 1600. Northerner in U.S. geo-political sense is attested from 1831. Northern lights "aurora borealis" first recorded 1721. North Star "Pole Star" is M.E. norže sterre (1398, cf. M.Du. noirdstern, Ger. nordstern).