Some words about Christmas

I read a tweet a few weeks ago from @guardianstyle that gave a brief explanation of the origin of the word “Xmas”.  The answer got me thinking about Christmas words and their origins.  I wonder how many other people will, like me, learn something surprising today. 

Christmas 

The word “Christmas” is a combination of “Christ” and “mass”.  “Christ”, meaning “anointed one” or “messiah”, is commonly used to refer to Jesus, believed by Christians to be the prophesied messiah.  In the context of Christmas, this is the intended meaning.  “Mass” is a word coined by the Roman Catholic church, and means the celebration of the Eucharist (the holy communion).  It is a ritual of thanksgiving in commemoration of Jesus’ death.  The word itself has origins in the Middle English word “masse”, from Old English “mæsse”, which is ultimately from Latin “mittere” – “to send away”; it is perhaps derived from the concluding dismissal in the Roman Mass, “Ite, missa est”, - “Go, it is the dismissal” or "Go, (the prayer) has been sent".

Interestingly, then, the origin of the word “Christmas” seems to relate more to the death of Jesus than his birth.

Xmas 

It is a common view that “Xmas” is a modern contraction of “Christmas” and is therefore somehow informal and improper.  In fact, “Xmas” can be found as far back as the 1750s; for example, it appears in Bernard Ward's History of St. Edmund's College, Old Hall (originally published circa 1755).  So where does it come from?

 

The letter ‘X’ or ‘Xp’ / ‘XP’ have often been used to represent “Christ”, ‘X’ being the Greek letter chi and ‘P’ being the Greek letter rho, and their being the first two letters of Χριστός, Greek for “Christ”.  Earlier versions of “Xmas” are "X'temmas" (around 1551) and "Xp̄es mæsse" (around 1100).

So, contrary to popular belief, “Xmas” is not a sign of illiteracy but of an understanding of Greek!

 Yule

The early Anglo-Saxons had a name for the winter period when many important feasts took place.  The name for it was “geol” / “geola” in Old English; this later became “yule”.  Again Christianity had an effect, in that the Yule period was reduced to a 12-day period starting on the 25^th of December.  Once the name “Christmas” was adopted for this Christian festival, the name “Yule” died out somewhat but is still used as a synonym of Christmas.

Carol

A carol is a Christmas song.  The word originates from Latin and Greek words for the flute player who accompanies choral dances (”choraúlēs”).  It could also be related to the idea of a circle, perhaps a circle dance, from the Old French “carole” (a kind of dance), or middle English “carole” (ring, circle), or Latin “corolla” (garland).

Noel

This is a variant of the Old French “naël”, which originated from the Latin “natalis dies”, meaning “birthday”.  It came into English in the 14^th century, and really comes directly from the French, being spelt “Noël”, although it can also be spelt “Nowell” and “Noel”.

I wish everyone a very happy and restful festive season – whatever you call it!

Sources: www.dictionary.com

http://en.wikipedia.org