Easter egg

Definition

A dyed or decorated egg, traditionally associated with Easter and, in the Western European tradition, sometimes hidden for children to find.

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.

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"