Where does “Betwixtmas” come from?
Betwixtmas (English) comes from English betwixt, from Middle English bitwixe, from Old English betwēox, from Old English be-, from Old English hrōpan, from Proto-West Germanic hrōpan, from Proto-Germanic hrōpaną, from Proto-Indo-European ḱer- — army.
Ancestry of “Betwixtmas”, step by step
Betwixtmas traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English betwixt
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | betwixt | Between, specifically between two objects |
| 2 | Middle English | bitwixe | In the position that separates (two things); in the middle |
| 3 | Old English | betwēox | between |
| 4 | Old English | be- | a productive prefix usually used to form verbs... |
| 5 | Old English | hrōpan | to shout, proclaim; cry out, scream, howl; to cry... |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | hrōpan | to cry out, to call, to shout |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | hrōpaną | to cry out, call, shout |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |
via English Christmas
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Christmas | A festival or holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ and incorporating various Christian, pre-Christian, pagan, and secular customs including gift-giving, which in Western Christianity is celebrated on December 25 (Christmas Day) in most places |
| 2 | Middle English | Cristemasse | Christmas the 25th of December |
| 3 | Old English | Cristes mæsse | Christmas |
| 4 | Old English | mæsse | mass |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | messa | Eucharist, dismissal; Eucharist; dismissal;... |
| 6 | Latin | missa | Mass; Christian eucharistic liturgy; nominative... |
| 7 | Latin | missum | accusative supine of mittō; inflection of... |
| 8 | Latin | mittō | to send, dispatch, cause to go, let go, release, discharge |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | meitō | to put forth, put out |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | meyth₂- | to hurt; to exchange, remove; to replace, to... |