Easter term
English
Etymology
From Late Middle English ester term (“Christian season of Easter; spring quarter of the year”),[1] from ester (“Easter”) + term, terme (“limit of a span of time; point in time”).[2] Ester is derived from Old English ēastre, apparently from Ēastre (name of a goddess whose festival was celebrated at the vernal equinox), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“to become light; to dawn”); terme is borrowed from Old French terme, from Latin terminus (“a bound, boundary, limit, end; in Medieval Latin, also a time, period, word, covenant, etc.”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥ (“stump, end, boundary”) (whence also thrum). By surface analysis, Easter + term. The Christian feast day of Easter, which falls between 22 March and 25 April, often occurs during this term. As regards sense 1 (“fourteenth day of the first lunar month of spring”), Easter is the first Sunday following this day.[3]
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈiːstə tɜːm/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈistəɹ ˌtɜɹm/
- Hyphenation: Eas‧ter term
Noun
Easter term (plural Easter terms)
- (historical) Synonym of Paschal term (“the fourteenth day of the first lunar month of spring, formerly used in calculating dates”).
- (law) The third term of the legal year, running from April to May, during which the upper courts of England and Wales, and Ireland, sit to hear cases.
- Coordinate terms: Hilary term, Michaelmas term, Trinity term
- (by extension, education) The summer term of the University of Cambridge, and other educational institutions, running from April to June; equivalent to Trinity term at the universities of Oxford and Dublin. The term was modelled after the legal term, but does not begin and end on the same dates.
- Coordinate terms: Lent term, Michaelmas term
- 1813, “University Terms, and How Many are Required to be Kept for each Degree”, in The Oxford University Calendar, for the Year 1813, Oxford: Printed by Munday and Slatter, for J. Parker; and F[rancis] C[harles] and J[ames] Rivington, London, →OCLC, page 65:
- There are four terms in the year, viz. […] 3. Easter term, which begins on the tenth day after Easter Sunday, and ends on the day before Whitsunday.
Usage notes
- In England and Wales, the system of terms applies to the High Court of Justice, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court; in Ireland it applies to the High Court and the Supreme Court.
- At present in England and Wales, Easter term begins on the second Tuesday after Easter Sunday and ends on the Friday before the spring holiday, which is the bank holiday on the last Monday in May or any day appointed instead of that day.[4] In Ireland it begins on the first Monday following Easter Sunday and ends on the Thursday before Whitsunday.[5]
Translations
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References
- ^ “[ēster] term” under “ēster(n, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- ^ “tē̆rme, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- ^ “Easter term, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “Easter term, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ “Practice Direction 39B – Court Sittings”, in Ministry of Justice[1], 16 May 2014, archived from the original on 27 March 2016, paragraphs 1.1(1)(c) and 1.1(2).
- ^ “Rules of the Superior Courts”, in Courts Service Ireland[2], 9 November 2016 (last accessed), archived from the original on 1 April 2016, Order 118(1).
Further reading
- Easter term on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- “Term Date Calculator”, in New Square Chambers[3], 2016, archived from the original on 14 August 2007.