All Hallows' Eve is a remembrance of the dead that occurs annually on the evening of 31 October. The name is a short form of All Hallows' Evening, meaning All Saints' Evening, as it is celebrated on the evening before All Saints Day, in the same way as Christmas Eve is the day before Christmas Day. Saints have historically been known as hallows, derived from the Old English word hālig and related to the German word heilig, meaning holy.