Good Friday and Easter

Good Friday and Easter Good Friday and Easter Good Friday and Easter By Maeve Maddox Reader Elaine Peters wonders if the word Good in Good Friday has anything to do with the word God, pointing out that the English good-bye is a shortened version of the once common expression God be with ye. The word goodbye is the result of running words together until theyve dwindled into a compressed version of the original. The English words good and god, however, are not related. Both stem from Indo-European roots. The word god meaning deity, is thought to come from a word meaning that which is invoked. Or, It could come from a different Indo-European word meaning to pour as in the pouring of a libation. The word good, meaning having a desirable quality, comes from a Proto-Indo- European base word with the meaning to unite, be associated, suitable. Like the word nice, good can be used in so many contexts that it is probably a word to be avoided by careful writers. For example, good can have the following meanings: prosperous: He makes a good living. beneficial: Spinach is good for you. welcome: The doctor gave him good news. fertile: The land isnt very good in this area. attractive: Actors must have good looks. genuine: This money is not good. advantageous: I got a good deal on this couch. Among the many meanings of good are virtuous, moral, and wise. One of the meanings of the word holy is infinitely good. From such meanings come the expressions the Good Book and Good Friday. To call the day of the crucifixion of Jesus Good Friday could seem a little perverse, but seen from the perspective of Christian belief, the day marks the salvation of mankind and the triumph over death. For that reason it is called Good Friday in the Christian calendar. The Christian use of the word Easter for the religious celebration of the passion and death of Christ is one of those ironies of linguistic history. The word Easter derives from the name of an ancient Germanic goddess of fertility and sunrise, Austron. Her feast was celebrated at the spring equinox. Anglo-Saxon converts to Christianity adopted the name and, according to the Venerable Bede, some of the practices of the old worship for their Mass of the Resurrection as well. The word east derives from the same word as does the name of the goddess. The German word for Easter is similar: Ostern, but most European languages use words derived from Medieval Latin pascha: French: PÃ ¢ques Dutch: Pasen Italian: Pasque Spanish: Pascua Portuguese: Pscoa* Russian: nacxa [pass-kha]* (with thanks to Andre, Andriano, and Alexey) The Latin word come from a Hebrew word which passed into Aramaic as pasha and from there into Greek and Latin. William Tyndale, translating the Bible in 1530, translated Hebrew pesah as pass over. During the Middle English period, some writers used the word Pasche for Easter, but the pagan word is the one that has survived into modern English. Even though English speakers use Easter as the name of the festival, they do have an adjective, paschal, that has the meaning of or pertaining to Easter. One of my family traditions was the eating of the Paschal Egg on Easter morning. We cut one of our colored eggs, usually a purple one, into four pieces, one for each member of the family. I suppose that an Easter egg hunt could be referred to as a paschal event. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Words with More Than One SpellingThe Possessive Apostrophe6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know