Halloween
/ˌhæ.ləˈwiːn/ name
name ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 the evening before All Saints' Day; often devoted to pranks played by young people wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 The eve of All Hallows' Day; October 31st; celebrated (mostly in English-speaking countries) by children going door-to-door in costume and soliciting candy with menaces.
"They all get dressed up in scary costumes at Halloween."
Example
More examples"Wishing you a Halloween filled with fun."
Etymology
A Scottish shortening of Allhalloweven, from Allhallowmas (the obsolete earlier name of All Saints' Day) + even (an archaic or poetic variant of eve; see also een). For the American pronunciation with /ɑ/, compare the Southern English traditional dialect pronunciations fallow /ˈfɒ.lə/ and tallow /ˈtɒ.lə/.