From my good friend and daily advisor ;
HALLOWEEN
Pronunciation: hæ-lê-WEEN
Hear it! <http://www.alphadictionary.com/sounds/halloween.mp3>
[Podcast]
<http://www.alphadictionary.com/goodword/podcast/Halloween>
Part of Speech: Noun, proper
Meaning: The night before All Saints Day, when English-speaking children run about (if not [Link 1] AMOK) in scary costumes representing the menacing spirits of the dead. It is the tradition to play pranks on neighbors or offer them immunity from such pranks in exchange for treats, a practice known as "trick or treat".
Notes: [Link 2] [Image 3] Today's word is a blend of 'Allhallowmas'
and 'even', the predecessor of 'evening'. The Catholic Church of England, like other churches, tried to preempt pagan holidays with holidays of its own. The Church chose the day of Samhain [SO-win] as the vigil for their celebration of all the saints.
Samhain was set at the end of summer and the onset of winter, the season of death. The Celts believed that on this night the spirits of the dead returned to mingle with those of the living.
The confusion of the two holidays led many early English Catholics to believe that the dead arose on Halloween, too.
In Play: The result of this confusion was the odd combination of the profane and sacred we now celebrate on October 31 and, some of us, on November 1, too. The pumpkin lantern ([Link 4]
JACK-O'-LANTERN) was originally a hollowed turnip lantern placed in windows on Halloween to scare away the spirits of the dead that were supposed to wander about that night. The costumes children will wear tonight descend from the days when kids dressed up like those spirits, such as skeletons, ghosts and goblins, to take advantage of the beliefs of their elders and play tricks on them.
Word History: Today's word was originally All-Hallow Even "All- Saints Evening", when 'hallow' meant "holy" and "saint". So Halloween is the evening before Catholic All Saints Day, when all the saints are celebrated. Some still spell it 'Hallowe'en', the apostrophe indicating the elision of the V in "even". However, now that 'even' has been replaced by 'evening', the apostrophe becomes pointless. 'Hallow' comes from Middle English 'halwen', the descendant of Old English 'halgian'. It derives from the same source as the 'hale' in 'hale and hearty', and the greeting, 'Hail!' 'Hail'
is akin to 'heal' and, more distantly, to German Heil "health, salvation", a word used in those most unholy of salutes, Heil Hitler! And Sieg Heil! "Victory Hail!" used by the Nazis during World War II.
-Dr. Goodword, alphaDictionary
BOO!
HALLOWEEN
Pronunciation: hæ-lê-WEEN
Hear it! <http://www.alphadictionary.com/sounds/halloween.mp3>
[Podcast]
<http://www.alphadictionary.com/goodword/podcast/Halloween>
Part of Speech: Noun, proper
Meaning: The night before All Saints Day, when English-speaking children run about (if not [Link 1] AMOK) in scary costumes representing the menacing spirits of the dead. It is the tradition to play pranks on neighbors or offer them immunity from such pranks in exchange for treats, a practice known as "trick or treat".
Notes: [Link 2] [Image 3] Today's word is a blend of 'Allhallowmas'
and 'even', the predecessor of 'evening'. The Catholic Church of England, like other churches, tried to preempt pagan holidays with holidays of its own. The Church chose the day of Samhain [SO-win] as the vigil for their celebration of all the saints.
Samhain was set at the end of summer and the onset of winter, the season of death. The Celts believed that on this night the spirits of the dead returned to mingle with those of the living.
The confusion of the two holidays led many early English Catholics to believe that the dead arose on Halloween, too.
In Play: The result of this confusion was the odd combination of the profane and sacred we now celebrate on October 31 and, some of us, on November 1, too. The pumpkin lantern ([Link 4]
JACK-O'-LANTERN) was originally a hollowed turnip lantern placed in windows on Halloween to scare away the spirits of the dead that were supposed to wander about that night. The costumes children will wear tonight descend from the days when kids dressed up like those spirits, such as skeletons, ghosts and goblins, to take advantage of the beliefs of their elders and play tricks on them.
Word History: Today's word was originally All-Hallow Even "All- Saints Evening", when 'hallow' meant "holy" and "saint". So Halloween is the evening before Catholic All Saints Day, when all the saints are celebrated. Some still spell it 'Hallowe'en', the apostrophe indicating the elision of the V in "even". However, now that 'even' has been replaced by 'evening', the apostrophe becomes pointless. 'Hallow' comes from Middle English 'halwen', the descendant of Old English 'halgian'. It derives from the same source as the 'hale' in 'hale and hearty', and the greeting, 'Hail!' 'Hail'
is akin to 'heal' and, more distantly, to German Heil "health, salvation", a word used in those most unholy of salutes, Heil Hitler! And Sieg Heil! "Victory Hail!" used by the Nazis during World War II.
-Dr. Goodword, alphaDictionary
BOO!