easter egg
/ˈiː.stəɹ ˌɛɡ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.96 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A dyed or decorated egg, traditionally associated with Easter and, in the Western European tradition, sometimes hidden for children to find.
noun
A chocolate confection in the shape of an egg, sometimes with chocolates or sweets inside.
noun
An undocumented function hidden in a program or video game, typically triggered by a particular input sequence or combination of keystrokes.
Example Sentences
- "Because eggs were inexpensive in most regions, the practice of decorating Easter eggs crossed all social classes and remained somewhat simple."
- "I reached the first fork in the tree and there they lay—several melted Easter eggs[…] Quickly I tore open the foil and licked the melted chocolate until there wasn't a trace left on the paper."
- "an Easter egg that displays the names of the application's development team"
- "Once found, the Easter egg will often enable the player to traverse through the game much more rapidly the second time around."
- "For the Best of Bowie DVD release, APl even concealed an Easter egg within a hidden extra."
- "The repeated appearance of a number as an Easter egg is not a new concept for J.J., Burky or those other members of Lost Labs who previously worked on Alias."
Etymology
From Easter + egg. Cognate with German Low German Ooosterei (“Easter egg”), Middle High German ōsterei ("Easter egg"; > modern German Osterei). So called because eggs would be eaten during Easter to break the fasting during Lent. (No eggs, dairy, meat except fish, lard, or foods containing these ingredients could be eaten during Lent.) The computing sense is from the early 1980s, popularized by the video game Adventure.