International English Test Editorial Team·29 Dec 2023·2 min read
Halloween, a widely celebrated holiday in America and worldwide, has its origins in Ireland. Irish immigrants continued the tradition when they moved to England and America.
Halloween is a fusion of various holidays, incorporating elements from the Celtic festival of Samhain, a Roman celebration honoring the goddess Pomona, and the Christian observance of All Saints’ Day.
Observed on October 31, Halloween is believed to be a day when the souls of the deceased can revisit their former homes, with heightened power for witches and demons.
The term “Halloween” is a shortened form of “All Hallows’ Eve.”
Costume-wearing is a common practice on Halloween, and the costumes need not necessarily be frightening.
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Halloween is a shortened form of All Hallows' Eve, the night before the Christian observance of All Saints' Day on November 1. The holiday itself blends several traditions: the Celtic festival of Samhain, a Roman celebration honouring the goddess Pomona, and that Christian feast. It is observed on October 31, the night when the souls of the dead were thought to return to their old homes.
Core Halloween nouns include pumpkin, jack-o-lantern, skull, skeleton, coffin and graveyard for the spooky setting, plus creatures such as werewolf, ghost, monster, goblin, vampire, zombie and mummy. For witchcraft you have potion, spell and wand, and for dressing up there are mask, scary costumes and scarecrow. Learning these gives you enough words to describe most Halloween scenes confidently.
Common activity phrases use action verbs: go to a costume party, dress up, carve pumpkins, trick or treat, get candy and decorate the house. Other traditions include bob for apples, go on a hayride, have a bonfire, play games, visit a haunted house and tell spine-tingling stories. These verb-plus-object collocations are useful for speaking and writing about the holiday.
A pumpkin is the round orange vegetable itself, while a jack-o-lantern is a pumpkin that has been hollowed out and carved with a face, then lit from inside. The verb you use is carve, as in carve pumpkins. So you start with a plain pumpkin and turn it into a jack-o-lantern by carving it for Halloween.
Sweet treats include pumpkin pie, caramel apples, candy corn cookies, apple dumplings and pumpkin pudding, while warm apple cider is a popular drink. There are also savoury and Irish-influenced dishes such as colcannon and boxty pancakes, plus roasted pumpkin seeds, apple pie and the playful jello worms often served at parties.
No. Wearing a costume is a common practice on Halloween, but the costume does not have to be frightening. People often dress up as monsters, vampires, zombies or ghosts, yet many choose funny, cute or non-scary outfits instead. The English verb for putting one on is dress up, and you might dress up to go to a costume party.
Although Halloween is widely celebrated in America today, its origins lie in Ireland. Irish immigrants carried the tradition with them when they moved to England and America, which is how it spread. This Irish root also explains why dishes like colcannon and boxty pancakes appear on Halloween food lists alongside more familiar American treats.
International English Test Editorial Team
ALTE Associate Member · UK English assessment provider · Est. 2023
