Ostara
/oʊˈstɑːrə/noun
A modern name for a spring festival or goddess, especially in neopagan contexts, associated with the spring equinox.
Did you know?The name became famous through Jacob Grimm’s speculation that an Old English month-name, Ēosturmōnaþ, may preserve a dawn goddess, but the exact historical existence of such a goddess remains uncertain.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂ews-
“to dawn, shine red, or brighten at daybreak”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*austrō-
“dawn; the east, the direction of sunrise”
Old English
OE
Ēostre
“a proposed goddess name, inferred from later scholarly reconstruction rather than directly attested worship”
Old English
OE
Ēosturmōnaþ
“the month of April, literally the 'Eostre month'”
19th Century
German
Ostara
“a modern romanticized or reconstructed goddess/festival name popularized in German scholarship and later pagan usage”
Modern English
English
Ostara
“a neopagan spring equinox celebration or goddess name”