Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Christmas Day” come from?

Christmas Day (English) comes from English Christmas, from Middle English Cristemasse, from Old English Cristes mæsse, from Old English mæsse, from Vulgar Latin messa, from Latin missa, from Latin missum, from Latin mittō — to hurt; to exchange, remove; to replace, to...

Christmas Day (English): The day on which Christmas is celebrated. It is...

Definitions

  1. The day on which Christmas is celebrated. It is...

Ancestry of “Christmas Day”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishChristmasRed and green , especially red and green chile...
2Middle EnglishCristemasse—
3Old EnglishCristes mæsseChristmas
4Old Englishmæssemass
5Vulgar LatinmessaEucharist, dismissal; Eucharist; dismissal;...
6LatinmissaMass; Christian eucharistic liturgy; nominative...
7Latinmissumaccusative supine of mittō; inflection of...
8Latinmittō—
9Proto-Italicmeitō—
10Proto-Indo-Europeanmeyth₂-to hurt; to exchange, remove; to replace, to...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European meyth₂- →