马上又到复活节了。复活节是基督教的重要节日之一。复活节的英文是Easter。那复活节为什么叫Easter呢?复活节名字的来源是什么呢?

　　[推荐阅读：各国复活节都怎么放假（中英文）]

　　根据维基百科的介绍，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, -on, or -an; but also as Ēastru, -o; and Ēastre or Ēostre. The most widely accepted theory of the origin of the term is that it is derived from the name of an Old English goddess mentioned by the 7th to 8th-century English monk Bede, who wrote that Ēosturmōnaþ (Old English '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".

　　In Latin and Greek, the Christian celebration was, and still is, called Pascha (Greek: Πάσχα), a word derived from Aramaic פסחא (Paskha), cognate to Hebrew פֶּסַח (Pesach). The word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as Passover, commemorating the Jewish Exodus from slavery in Egypt. As early as the 50s of the 1st century, Paul, writing from Ephesus to the Christians in Corinth, applied the term to Christ, and it is unlikely that the Ephesian and Corinthian Christians were the first to hear Exodus 12 interpreted as speaking about the death of Jesus, not just about the Jewish Passover ritual. In most of the non-English speaking world, the feast is known by names derived from Greek and Latin Pascha. Pascha is also a name by which Jesus himself is remembered in the Orthodox Church, especially in connection with his resurrection and with the season of its celebration.

　　复活节名称乃自教会拉丁语的“Pascha”转换而来(由于pascua(nourriture，食物)一词的影响，从pascere(paître，喂食、放养)这个拉丁动词里来的)，原本是从希腊语里的πάσχα(páskha)借用而来，而这个希腊词本身则是从希伯来语פסח(Pessa'h，超越[par-dessus由…之上])里借用的，源自passage(过路/道)，即指犹太人的逾越节，这词同时含有纪念当年以色列人出埃及的意义。根据圣经福音记载，在这个犹太节期间，耶稣基督复活了;这是为什么这个名称被用在基督徒的节日上。