Christmas

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English Cristemasse, also Cristes masse,^[2][3] inherited from Old English Crīstes mæsse (“Christ's festival, the mass of Christ”),^[4][5][6][7] from Crīstes, the genitive of Crīst (“Christ”), and mæsse (“festival, mass”).^[2][8][9] The Old English name of Christ is from Latin Chrīstus,^[4] and the word for mass is from Late Latin missa.^[9] The OED adds that some of the later forms may be partly a compound of Christ with the ending -mas, and some may be a shortening of Christenmas; the t was lost from the cluster in the middle of the word, as the modern pronunciation shows.^[10] Etymonline notes that the word keeps the original vowel of Christ.^[9] It has parallels in Middle Dutch kerstmisse, now Kerstmis, Middle Low German kristmisse and Middle High German kristesmesse.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Christian festival of Christ's birth: the word is recorded in late Old English, in a homily of Wulfstan,^[10][9] and Barnhart dates Cristesmessa, Christmas Day, to 1100.^[8][11] Barnhart notes that, unlike other words connected with Christ, it seems to have been written with a capital C from its first record.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Old English already had an older name for the season, Yule, recorded much earlier in this sense.^[10] Christmas was written as one word from the mid-14th century.^[9] Besides the day itself, the word came to mean the whole festive season around it;^[10][2] Christmastide is recorded from 1626.^[8] Christmas Eve goes back to Middle English Cristenmesse even, about 1300.^[9][8] Father Christmas appears in a carol attributed to Richard Smart, rector of Plymtree in Devon from 1435 to 1477.^[9] Johnson (1755) defined it as the day on which the church celebrates the birth of the Saviour with a particular service.^[12] In English regional use Christmas also meant holly and other evergreens put up as decorations (from 1706),^[10][2] and in Dorset a Christmas bough was holly.^[13] The Christmas tree in the modern sense is recorded by 1835 in American English, translating German Weihnachtsbaum,^[9][8] and Weekley describes it as a German custom made popular in England by its use in Queen Victoria's household.^[14] Christmas presents are recorded from 1769, and Christmas cards were first designed in 1843, with the word Christmas card in use by 1850.^[9] Since 1882 Christmas! has also served as a mild exclamation, like Christ!.^[10] English dialects had many forms of the word, such as Kersmas in Northumberland and Cumberland and Kursmas and Kesmas elsewhere.^[13]

Timeline

• late Old English – Crīstes mæsse, the festival of Christ's birth.^[10][9]
• 1100 – Cristesmessa, Christmas Day.^[8]
• c. 1300 – Cristenmesse even, Christmas Eve.^[9][8]
• mid-14th century – written as one word.^[9]
• 1594 – verb, to fill a person with Christmas cheer (obsolete).^[10][5] Etymonline dates the verb to the 1590s.^[9]
• 1626 – Christmastide.^[8]
• 1706 – holly and other evergreens used as Christmas decorations.^[10]
• 1769 – Christmas present.^[9]
• 1801 – verb, to celebrate Christmas.^[10]
• 1835 – Christmas tree, in American English.^[9][8]
• 1882 – a mild exclamation of surprise or annoyance.^[10]
• 1917 – Christmas in July, a Christmas-like celebration held in midsummer.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The yearly Christian festival marking the birth of Jesus Christ, kept on 25 December, or on 7 January by some Eastern churches.^[2][15][10]
2. Christmas Day, also kept as a secular holiday with gifts and greetings.^[15][2]
3. The festive season around this day; Christmastide.^[2][15][10]
4. (regional) holly and other evergreens used as Christmas decorations.^[2][10]

Verb

1. To celebrate Christmas, or to spend the Christmas season somewhere: They Christmassed with her parents in the hills.^[2][10][5]

Interjection

1. A mild exclamation of surprise, dismay or annoyance.^[10]

Word family

• Christmassy

Related words

• Christ
• mass
• Yule
• Noel

Usage notes

A separate noun Christmas, in Christmas disease, a form of haemophilia, comes from the surname of Stephen Christmas, the first patient in whom the disorder was identified (1952).^[10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins