[Red Badger]

Etymology

Main articles: Ēostre and Names of Easter

The modern English term Easter, cognate with modern Dutch ooster and German Ostern, developed from an Old English word that usually appears in the form Ēastrun, Ēastron, or Ēastran; but also as Ēastru, Ēastro; and Ēastre or Ēostre.[nb 4] Bede provides the only documentary source for the etymology of the word, in his eighth-century The Reckoning of Time. He wrote that Ēosturmōnaþ (Old English for ‘Month of Ēostre’, translated in Bede’s time as “Paschal month”) was an English month, corresponding to April, which he says “was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month”.[37]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%92ostre

[fidelis]

Thank you for providing this, for this has led to a lot of misunderstanding. Bede claimed the word “Easter” came from the name of the month in which it occurred (basically, April). He said this month used to be called “Eostur,” though this was no longer true in his day. He also thought the month was named after a Germanic goddess who was no longer worshipped (The Reckoning of Time, 15).

Bede is the only source who mentions this goddess, so he may be incorrect. Regardless, this applies only to the origin of the English word—not the origin of the feast. Its origin is revealed by its name in other languages.