It is, perhaps, four hours late to be wishing everyone a happy Eater, but I'll go ahead anyway. Happy Easter!
According to the AHD, the word Easter comes from the middle English name for the holiday, "ester," which comes from the Old English "eastre." This is all the AHD says. However, the 8th Century English historian Bede tells that eastre comes from "Eostur-monath," the name for a month roughly corresponding to April. Bede claims that the month was named for Eostre, the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn. Thus, if Bede is to be believed (and there is no corroborating evidence), the English name for one of Christianity's most important days actually has a pagan origin.
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I think that most Christian traditions can be traced back to pagan traditions - assimilation by amalgamation can be easier than subtractive assimilation.
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