Xmas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A holiday celebrated on December 25, honoring the birth of Jesus Christ
2. A season marked by festive decorations, gift-giving, and special meals
3. A time of year associated with joy, charity, and family gatherings

Etymology: The abbreviation "Xmas" rests on a Greek letter. In Greek, the Christ is "Khristos," which begins with the letter chi, written as an X. Medieval scribes abbreviated the Latin "Cristes mæsse" (Christ's mass) by replacing "Cristes" with that X, and English readers came to treat the X as shorthand for Christ. Some Old English manuscripts already used the form "Χp̃es mæssa" around 1100, combining the Greek letter with an abbreviation mark. The shortened spelling appears in print from 1755, after earlier forms such as "X'temmas" in 1551. Its popularity grew in the late nineteenth century, when it became common in newspapers, advertising, and shop signs, partly because it saved space. Some people object to the spelling as secularizing, but the X was never a substitute for the name. It was an ordinary scribal shorthand that carried the sacred name in its Greek form, and the word "mas" in the compound simply means "mass" or "holiday."

Synonyms: christmas