Christmas

The history of the word "Christmas:"

This word is a compound, the "Christ" part traces back to Indo European "ghrei," which meant "to rub." This gave Greek "khriein," which meant "to anoint; that is, usually rub with oil." This then produced the noun "khristos," meaning "the anointed (one)," which was the Greek translation of Hebrew "mashiah;" that is, "messiah." Latin borrowed the word as "Christus," and the word spread throughout Europe with the advance of Christianity; thus Old English "crist," and the "h" wasn't added until a few centuries later for "Christ." "The "mas" part is really "Mass," the religious service. The ultimate origins of this word are uncertain, although "some" believe it is from Indo European. It goes back to Latin "mittere," a verb meaning "to send, to dismiss." This verb's participle form was "missa," which produced a noun form "messa," meaning "a Eucharist service;" that is, "thanks giving service" (not the American holiday "Thanksgiving"). The notion behind the word and the religious service was "prayer sent; thus the congregation is dismissed." This was borrowed into Old English as "maesse," which later became "Mass." It was borrowed by other languages, too, and German has "Messe," and Dutch has both "mis" and "massa." Old English had "Cristes maesse," which did not commonly become one compound word until about the 1300s; thus we have "Christmas." The use of "Xmas" as an abbreviation for "Christmas" is from the Greek letter "Χ" from "Χριστός;" that is, the Greek alphabet form of "Christ," transliterated as "Christós."

So, to all visitors here: "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"