Halloween Vocabulary
What do we call a large outdoor fire?
A bonfire.
On what date is Halloween celebrated?
October 31.
What do children usually say when they visit houses on Halloween?
Trick or treat!
What vegetable is most commonly carved today?
A pumpkin.
Which animal is often connected with witches and Halloween?
A black cat.
What verb means “to cut a face or design into a pumpkin”?
To carve.
Which old festival is often connected with Halloween’s early history?
Samhain.
What is the name of the old custom of visiting houses in disguise and performing for food or gifts?
Guising.
What vegetable was commonly carved in Ireland before pumpkins?
A turnip.
Which flying animal became a Halloween symbol and may have been attracted to insects near bonfires?
A bat.
What word means traditional stories and beliefs passed through generations?
Folklore.
What season was beginning around Samhain?
Winter.
What was “souling”?
Asking for food in return for prayers for the dead.
What is the name of the man in the famous jack-o’-lantern legend?
Stingy Jack.
What fruit is used in the traditional game “bobbing for ___”?
Apples.
What phrasal verb means “to keep something dangerous away”?
Ward off.
What does “All Hallows’ Eve” mean?
The evening before All Saints’ Day.
Why did people sometimes wear disguises in older Halloween traditions?
To hide from, confuse or imitate spirits.
What did Jack carry to light his way in the legend?
A burning coal inside a hollow turnip.
What two colours are most strongly associated with Halloween?
Orange and black.
What word can mean a thin covering and, in Halloween folklore, a barrier between two worlds?
Veil.
Why is it too simple to say “Halloween came only from Samhain”?
Because Halloween developed from several traditions, including Celtic, Christian, Irish/Scottish and North American customs.
Name two modern Halloween traditions.
Possible answers: costumes, trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, parties, ghost stories, scary films.
Is the story of Stingy Jack a historical fact or folklore?
Folklore.
In Halloween folklore, what was sometimes believed to happen to the boundary between the living and the dead?
It became thin or weaker, allowing spirits to move between the worlds.