What does Halloween mean?

Halloween means “the night before All Saints’ Day.” Halloween is a holiday on October 31 that involves dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating (knocking on doors to ask for candy).

Halloween costumes and Halloween sayings have traditionally been associated with death (e.g., ghosts and skeletons) because the holiday is celebrated the night before All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day–Christian holy days that honor saints and those who have passed. All Saints’ Day used to be called “All Hallows’ Day.”

The word “Halloween” is a contraction for the old English words “hallows” (saints) and “even” (evening). In some parts of the world, “Hallowe’en” has an apostrophe.

QuillBot’s free Paraphrasing Tool can help you polish your Halloween messages.