The noun εορτη (eorte) means feast. It's officially a mystery where this noun comes from, but here at Abarim Publications we surmise it may have some deep kinship with the Latin hortus, which stems from the Proto-Indo-European root gher-, from which also stems the Greek verb χαιρω (chairo), meaning to rejoice.

Feasts were a major element of Israel's social character — see our articles on the Hebrew verb חגג (hagag), to gather for a feast, and the derived name Haggai — and their primary function appears to have been similar to that of the weekly Sabbath, namely to "practice" freedom and a perpetual state of joy.

Our noun εορτη (eorte) occurs 27 times in the New Testament, see full concordance, and from it derives: