Noel

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English nouel, also nowel and noel,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman noel and Middle French noel,^[5] now French noël,^[5][6] a variant of Old French nael,^[3][4][6] from Latin nātālis (“of birth”), in the phrase nātālis diēs (“birthday”),^[3][7][8] which Church Latin used for the birthday of Christ.^[3][8] The Latin adjective comes from nātus (“born”), the past participle of nāscor (“to be born”),^[3][7][4] from Proto-Indo-European *gene- (“to give birth, beget”).^[3] The OED explains the change of a to o in the Old French form as dissimilation.^[5] The word is a doublet of natal.^[4] Barnhart, Etymonline and Hoad take the modern sense “Christmas carol” as a separate borrowing of the modern French word in the 19th century.^[4][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The feast of Christmas: about 1390, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in the form Nowel.^[4][2] The OED's entry for the spelling noel begins with a record of 1435 in the proceedings of the Privy Council.^[5][2] About 1395 Chaucer used nowel in the Franklin's Tale as a cry of joy celebrating the birth of Christ.^[5][4][9]

Semantic evolution

In Anglo-Norman the word meant both a birthday and Christmas Day, from the early 12th century.^[10] It was also used as a name: the surname Noel is recorded in England from 1130,^[4] and the OED suggests it was first given to children born or baptized on Christmas Day.^[5][8] The old sense “Christmastide” died out in the 16th century,^[5] and the cry of joy survives only in carols.^[11][5] The sense “a Christmas carol” is recorded from 1786 in the OED,^[5] while Barnhart and Etymonline first record it in 1811.^[4][3] Collins labels it rare.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1390 – Nowel, the feast of Christmas.^[4][2]
• c. 1395 – nowel, a cry of joy at the birth of Christ, in Chaucer.^[5][4]
• 1435 – noel, Christmas.^[5][2]
• 1786 – a Christmas carol.^[5] Barnhart and Etymonline first record this sense in 1811.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Christmas or the Christmas season, used especially in carols.^[12][13][5]
2. (often lowercase, rare) A Christmas carol.^[13][12][11]

Interjection

1. A word of joy sung in Christmas carols, celebrating the birth of Jesus.^[8][11][5]

Related words

• natal
• native
• nativity
• Nowell

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster