Easter egg

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.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈiː.stəɹ ˌɛɡ/

• Audio (AU)

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Easter egg (plural Easter eggs)

1. A dyed or decorated egg, traditionally associated with Easter and, in the Western European tradition, sometimes hidden for children to find.
   • 2009, Ace Collins, chapter 23, in Stories Behind the Traditions and Songs of Easter:

     Because eggs were inexpensive in most regions, the practice of decorating Easter eggs crossed all social classes and remained somewhat simple.

2. A chocolate confection in the shape of an egg, sometimes with chocolates or sweets inside.
   • 2008, Christel Behnke Gehlert, Recollections of a Hamburger: Growing Up German, 1941-1962, page 143:

     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.

3. (computing) An undocumented function hidden in a program or video game, typically triggered by a particular input sequence or combination of keystrokes.

   an Easter egg that displays the names of the application's development team

   • 2011, Myint Swe Khine, Learning to Play: Exploring the Future of Education with Video Games, page 59:

     Once found, the Easter egg will often enable the player to traverse through the game much more rapidly the second time around.

4. Any image, feature, or other content that is hidden on a video disc or in a movie, trailer, or poster.
   • 2004, Michael Burns & George Cairns, Designing DVD Menus: How to Create Professional-Looking DVDs

     For the Best of Bowie DVD release, APl even concealed an Easter egg within a hidden extra.

   • 2008, Jon Lachonis & Amy Johnston, chapter 16, in "Lost" Ate My Life: The Inside Story of a Fandom Like No Other:

     The repeated appearance of a number as an Easter egg is not a new concept for J.J., Burky or those other members of Lost Labs who previously worked on Alias.

• (decorated egg): pysanka, Ukrainian Easter egg
• Pasch egg (obsolete)

• Easter egg hunt

• Wikipedia article on Easter eggs (decorated or chocolate eggs)
• Wikipedia article on Easter eggs in computing

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