Halloween

noun

Hal·​low·​een ˌha-lə-ˈwēn How to pronounce Halloween (audio) ˌhä- How to pronounce Halloween (audio)
variants or less commonly Hallowe'en
: October 31 observed especially with dressing up in disguise, trick-or-treating, and displaying jack-o'-lanterns during the evening

Examples of Halloween in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web With an early primary, congressional and legislative candidates need to start campaigning after Halloween. George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2024 Months after Juan Gonzalez was indicted, his son, Isiah Gonzalez, was shot and killed during a Halloween 2021 road rage incident in San Jose, court records show. Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 2 Mar. 2024 There are now 10 Saw movies; 13 in the Halloween series; Scream has six films and a TV spin-off; and Child's Play has eight movies with an ongoing TV series. Brianna Scott, NPR, 1 Mar. 2024 But one Halloween night, the town is thrown into chaos (or so Hubie thinks), and suddenly, rumors of an escaped inmate flood the community. Keith Langston, Peoplemag, 1 Mar. 2024 Pop-Tarts shaped like hearts for Valentine’s Day; coffins for Halloween. Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 1 Mar. 2024 Oct 31: Tulane (Thursday night) Halloween game alert! Hunter Bailey, Charlotte Observer, 29 Feb. 2024 Chandler is creating a social ordinance dedicated to Preston Lord that addresses teen violence, Vice Mayor OD Harris announced at a community walk Wednesday at Chandler Unified School District to honor Lord, who was attacked and killed four months ago at a Halloween party in Queen Creek. Dylan Wickman, The Arizona Republic, 29 Feb. 2024 Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Southwest's Birthday (June 18), and Halloween. Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 29 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Halloween.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

short for All Hallow Even (All Saints' Eve)

First Known Use

circa 1700, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Halloween was circa 1700

Dictionary Entries Near Halloween

Cite this Entry

“Halloween.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Halloween. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

Halloween

noun
Hal·​low·​een ˌhal-ə-ˈwēn How to pronounce Halloween (audio) ˌhäl- How to pronounce Halloween (audio)
: October 31 celebrated especially by wearing costumes, trick-or-treating, and displaying jack-o'-lanterns
Etymology

an altered form of All Hallow Even, the eve of All Saints' Day

Word Origin
Modern-day Christians know the first of November as All Saints' Day. In the Middle Ages it was called All Hallow Day. This was a hallowed or holy day celebrated in honor of all the saints in heaven. Since November 1 was a special holy day with a special name, the day before it had a special name as well. October 31 was called All Hallow Eve or All Hallow Even. The words eve and even were used both for the evening and the day before a special day. This name was sometimes written All Hallow E'en and later shortened to Halloween.

More from Merriam-Webster on Halloween

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