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March,
2007 |
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Easter in Latin |
Table of
Contents Bible for Children, Meet the Author Latin for Teachers Training Seminar “when I pulled your books back
out on Monday, my oldest daughter actually cheered. She is
loving the program.” Melissa
Peterson Classical
Academic Press ph: 866-730-0711 Visit
our Website |
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_____________________________________________ Easter...Pascha In
our Christmas newsletter we acquainted you with the Latin way of saying
“Merry Christmas” as in Felix Dies Nativitatis and Natale Hilare.
How does one convey a greeting during Easter? Well the traditional English way is to say
“Christ is risen!” to which one responds, “He is risen indeed!” The Latin equivalent is Christus resurrexit and the response, Vere resurrexit! The Latin verb resurgo, resurgere, resurrexi, resurrectum is a compound verb
that combines re (again) plus surgo (I
rise). From surgo we get “surge,” from resurgo we get
“resurgent and of course “resurrect” and “resurrection.” What
of the word “Easter?” According to the
Venerable Bede (672-735), our word “Easter” comes
from “Eostre” a Teutonic goddess of spring and the
rising light of each day. The
direction of the rising sun—the East—is named for her and “Eastre” is believed to be the ancient Anglo-Saxon word
for spring. The preferred Latin word
for Easter is Pascha
(“Passover”) which comes to us directly from the Greek. Sometimes Easter was
called the Festa Paschalia
(the paschal feasts or holidays) referring to an entire week of celebration
(called “Holy Week” in some traditions).
The ancient Christians did not hesitate to replace the pagan spring
festivals with the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, investing the
name “Easter” with new meaning. Here
are some other fun Easter words to add to your Latin vocabulary! ovum =
egg cuniculus
=
rabbit lilium
=
lily gramen
=
grass vernum
tempus = springtime solis
ortus = sunrise pullus
=
chick agnus
=
lamb corbis = basket |
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