HALLOWEEN VOCABULARY - ADVANCED

Halloween is a bizarre holiday that has historical roots extending back 
thousands of years ago in Pagan Europe. This eldritch festival was called Samhain (pronounced "Sow-in"), meaning "Summer's End" in ancient Ireland. This was a turning point in the "wheel of the year" that marked the visible increasing darkness. 

The Pagan Wheel of the Year

The Equinoxes and Solstices divide the year in four quarters.
In-between those times were four more seasonal events that marked the agricultural year.
Many holidays like Christmas and Easter preserve Pagan elements such as decorating trees and painting eggs. 

A season of death; a time when the final crops had been harvested and cattle would be slaughtered in preparation for the long, hard, cold winter season of northern Europe. 

Fires would be lit and the spirits of the ancestors placated, and forms of divination would be practiced. Let us look at this holiday and learn some interesting English vocabulary.

On Halloween night, more than any other time during the year, the veil between our human world and the spiritual world is considered to be thinnest. The spirits of the dead (ghosts), and other supernatural beings (goblins, werewolves, witches, vampires & etc…,) are believed to be permitted to cross over into our human world during this night.

We celebrate this holiday in many ways in the U.S.A. but it is traditionally special for children to go 'trick-or-treating' on Halloween night. 'Trick-or-Treating' comes from old European folk customs which were brought to America by Irish immigrants. The habit of dressing in costumes and going door-to-door begging for sweets is directly connected to the ancient habit of placating the ancestors and other supernatural visitors on this night. This was done in order to avoid misfortune during the long, dark winter months.

VOCABULARY

Bizarre

bəˈzär/ adjective - very strange or unusual, especially so as to cause interest or amusement.

bɪzɑ́ːr/［音声］ 

形

<行動･外見が>奇妙な, へんてこな, とっぴな(odd, weird).

～･ly副異様に; [文修飾]奇妙にも.

～･ness名

'Pagan' is a word we generally use to refer to those pre-Christian religious traditions as found in the Celtic, Germanic and Mediterranean countries before Christianity took over as the major religious tradition.

pa･gan †

/péɪɡ(ə)n/［音声］

[語源は「田舎者」]

形

1(しばしば非難して)[通例名の前で](キリスト･ユダヤ･イスラム教以外[以前]の)異教(徒)の(heathen).

2無宗教の; 不信者の.

名Ｃ[時にP-]

1(やや古･しばしば非難して)異教徒, 異端者; 多神教者; 無神論者.

2(おどけて)不信心者, 宗教心の足りない人.

～･ish/-ɪʃ/形異教徒的な.

～･ìsm名

Eldritch

/éldrɪtʃ/ 

形

(文)[通例名の前で]不気味な.

ˈeldriCH/ adjective - weird and sinister or ghostly.

Equinox

e･qui･nox

/ékwɪnɑ̀(ː)ks|-nɔ̀ks, ı́ːk-/［音声］ 

名

Ｃ昼夜平分時(1年の中で昼夜の時間が同じ時); [天]分点(黄道と天の赤道の交点; その時が昼夜平分時)

▶vernal [spring] equinox

春分(3月21日ごろ)

▶autumn(al) equinox

秋分(9月22日ごろ).

Solstice

sol･stice †

/sɑ́(ː)lstəs|sɔ́l-/［音声］ 

名

Ｃ[天](太陽の)至(し), 至点(太陽が赤道から北または南に最も遠く離れた時点)

▶the summer [winter] solstice

夏至[冬至].

Cattle would be slaughtered

Cattle

cat･tle *

/kǽt(ə)l/［音声］

[語源は「財産」; 昔家畜(ウシ)が財産であったため]

名[集合的に; 複数扱い](× a cattle, cattlesとしない)

1(家畜の)ウシ, 畜牛(!主にcows, bullsなどをさす)

▶Cattle live on grass.

ウシは草を常食とする

▶fifty (head [×heads] of) cattle

50頭のウシ(の群れ).

Slaughter

slaugh･ter *

/slɔ́ːtər/［音声］(!-augh-は/ɔː/) 

名(複 ～s /-z/)

1Ｕ虐殺, 殺戮(さつりく); (戦争などの)大量殺人, 大虐殺.

2Ｕ(食用動物の)屠殺(とさつ), 畜殺.

3Ｃ(くだけて)[通例単数形で]完敗, 惨敗.

sláugh･tered

［音声］ 

形

(英･くだけて)[be ～]酔っ払って.

Ancestors placated

Ancestor

* an･ces･tor *

/ǽnsestər, -səs-/［音声］(!強勢は第1音節)

[ante(先に) cestor(行く人)]

名(複 ～s/-z/)Ｃ

1祖先, 先祖(⇔ descendant)

▶Our ancestors were living in groups.

私たちの祖先は集団で生活していた.

2[生物]原型種, 始祖

▶Humans and apes have a common ancestor.

人類とサルの祖先は共通である.

3(機械などの)原型, 前身.

Placate

 pla･cate †

/pléɪkeɪt|pləkéɪt/［音声］ 

動

他

(かたく)<人>をなだめる; <怒り･敵意など>を和らげる, 静める; …を懐柔する.

Divination (fortune-telling)

div･i･na･tion

/dɪ̀vɪnéɪʃ(ə)n/［音声］ 

名ＵＣ

1占い, 予言.

2直感, 本能的予見.