Where does the word “Halloween” come from?

What it means

• Where does the word come from? Halloween
• “Hallow” means: holy / sacred
• All Hallows' Evening → Hallow Even → Halloween
• Halloween words: costume · spirit · festival · holy

Transcript

Tap a line to play it.

1. 0:00The way Halloween is celebrated nowadays,
2. 0:02with people wearing costumes and going around knocking on people's doors,
3. 0:07is thought to have Celtic pagan origins.
4. 0:10It was a festival called Samhain,
5. 0:14held on November 1st to celebrate the end of summer.
6. 0:18As Christianity arrived on British and Irish shores,
7. 0:22this holiday, or holy day,
8. 0:25morphed into All Hallows' Day, or All Saints' Day.
9. 0:30Hallow is another word for holy or sacred.
10. 0:34In order to scare negative spirits away the evening before,
11. 0:37people would dress up in costumes and put out signs and symbols.
12. 0:43This was Hallows' Evening,
13. 0:45that was soon shortened to Hallow Even, and then Halloween.

Quick quiz

1. Question 1 of 2

   What was Samhain?

   AA Christian holy dayBA kind of costumeCA famous Irish kingDA festival for the end of summer

2. Question 2 of 2

   Why did people dress up in costumes the evening before?

   ATo scare bad spirits awayBTo keep warmCTo get candyDTo win prizes