Meaning Of Halloween What Is

The word hallowe en means saints evening it comes from a scottish term for all hallows eve the evening before all hallows day.

Meaning of halloween what is. The celts who lived 2 000 years ago mostly in the area that is now ireland the united kingdom and. To mark the occasion of samhain the druids. The eve of all saints day.

The word halloween comes from all hallows eve and means hallowed evening hundreds of years ago people dressed up as saints and went door to door which is the origin of halloween costumes and trick or treating. Halloween s origins date back to the ancient celtic festival of samhain pronounced sow in. Observed especially by children in costumes who solicit treats often by threatening minor pranks.

In scots the word eve is even and this is contracted to e en or een over time all hallow s e v en evolved into hallowe en although the phrase all hallows is found in. The history of halloween goes all the way back to a pagan festival called samhain. The name halloween originally spelled hallowe en is a contraction of all hallows even meaning the day before all hallows day better known today as all saints day a catholic holiday commemorating christian saints and martyrs.

In fact a lot of the things we do on halloween predate christianity entirely. Origins of modern halloween traditions. While it takes its name from all saints day modern halloween is actually a combination of several different traditions.

The direct predecessor of modern day halloween is the festivity that began all saints day which started at sundown on october 31. Many of the traditions we still associate with halloween in the modern world come from samhain.