Xmas

Xmas
/kris"meuhs/ or, often, /eks"meuhs/
Christmas.
Usage. The abbreviation XMAS for Christmas dates from the mid 16th century. The X is the Greek letter chi, the initial part of a greek word (Christos) "Christ." In spite of a long and respectable history, today XMAS is offensive to many, perhaps because of its associations with advertising. It is not used in formal writing.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Xmas — is used in informal written English to represent the word Christmas. It would be nice to have my Dad home for Xmas …   English dictionary

  • Xmas — Xmas. (auch bloß Xm.), in England gebräuchliche Abkürzung für Christmas (Weihnachten) …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Xmas —   [ ɪksmɛs], in Großbritannien und v. a. in den USA Kurzbezeichnung für Christmas …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Xmas — Christmas, 1551, X temmas, wherein the X is an abbreviation for Christ in Christmas, from first letter of Gk. Christos Christ (see CHRIST (Cf. Christ)). The earlier way to abbreviate it was Xp or Xr , corresponding to Chr , and the form Xres… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Xmas — (Christmas) krɪsmÉ™s n. Christian holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Xmas — In this abbreviated form of the name Christmas, first recorded in the 18c, the initial X represents a Greek chi (= ch), the first letter of the name Christ. It is a convenient shortening commonly used in newspaper headlines, on cards, and in… …   Modern English usage

  • Xmas — [n] Christmas Christmastide, Christmastime, festive season, Nativity, Noel, Yule, Yuletide; concept 802 …   New thesaurus

  • Xmas — [eks′məs] n. [see XP] informal var. of CHRISTMAS …   English World dictionary

  • Xmas — For the Italian frogman unit Xª MAS , see Decima Flottiglia MAS. A 1922 Ladies Home Journal advertisement using Xmas . Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas . It is sometimes pronounced …   Wikipedia

  • Xmas — Die Schreibweise X mas oder Xmas, auch Xtmas oder Xstmas, wird im englischen Sprachraum, vor allem in den USA, häufig als Abkürzung für das Wort Christmas (Weihnachten) verwendet. Seit frühchristlicher Zeit diente der griechische Buchstabe Chi… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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