Where does “Little Christmas” come from?
Little Christmas (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...
Little Christmas (English): January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany
Definitions
- January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany
Ancestry of “Little Christmas”, step by step
Little Christmas traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
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... |
via English little
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | little | Small in size; Insignificant, trivial; Very young |
| 2 | Middle English | litel | little |
| 3 | Old English | lȳtel | little |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | lūtil | bent; tending to stoop; crouching |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | lūtilaz | bent; tending to stoop; crouching; little |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | burgz | fortification, stronghold; city |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰr̥ǵʰ- | — |