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AllHallowsEve

A painting called "All Hallows' Eve".

All Hallows' Eve is an older name for Halloween. "Hallow" means "holy" and was used in Old English as another word for "saint". "Eve" means "the night before", as in Christmas Eve, the night before Christmas Day. All Hallows' Eve was the name given to the night before All Hallows' Day or All Saints' Day on November 1.

The modern name "Halloween" is a shortened form of the Scottish name "All-Hallows-Even". The name has existed since the 16th century.

The name All Hallows' Eve is not used very much anymore. It is sometimes used in ghost stories and movies and appears on Halloween party invitations and posters advertising public Halloween parties, in order to create a scary (or comical faux-scary) atmosphere.

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