▪ I. Christmas, n.
(ˈkrɪsməs)
Forms: 2 Cristes mæsse, 4 cristesmesse, cristmasse, kryst-masse, 4–5 cristemes(e, cristemasse, crystmas(se, 5 cristmes, cristmas, crysmas, 6 cristimas, 6–7 Christmasse, 7–8 Christmass, 6– Christmas, (north. dial. 8 Kesmas, 9 Cursmas, Cursmis).
[Late OE. Cristes mæsse the mass or festival of Christ. See also the by-form Christenmas.]
1. a. The festival of the nativity of Christ, kept on the 25th of December. Usually extended more or less vaguely to the season immediately preceding and following this day, commonly observed as a time of festivity and rejoicing.
| a 1123 OE. Chron. an. 1101 Her on þisum ᵹeare to Xp̃es. mæssan heold se cyng Heanriᵹ his hired on Westmynstre. a 1134 Ibid. an. 1127 Ðis ᵹear heald se kyng Heanri his hird æt Cristes mæsse on Windlesoure. 1340 Ayenb. 213 Ine zuyche festes ase at cristesmesse. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 471 Wel by-commes such craft vpon cristmasse. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iii. 83 At crystmasse and at ester, men ought to go vysit and see his good frende. 1489 Plumpton Corr. (1839) Introd. 114 The King..beganne Crysmas at Westmynster. 1495 Act 2 Hen. VII, c. 2 §5 Noon apprentice..[shall] pley..at the Tenys..in no wise out of Cristmas. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 54 He went to Windsore, where he..kept his Christmas. 1605 Camden Rem. Proverbs, Christmasse cometh but once a yeare. 1635 Swan Spec. M. (1670) 124 They also say, that a hot Christmas makes a fat churchyard. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 509 ¶3 The Beadles and Officers have the Impudence at Christmas to ask for their Box. 1748 H. Walpole Lett., H. Mann 26 Dec., Here am I come down to what you call Keep my Christmas. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. 189 (Hoppe) Revelry was permitted..through the twelve days of Christmas. |
† b. transf. to any similar festivity or revelry.
| 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1698) I. iii. 56 Privateers, who resort hither in the aforesaid months [May-Aug] purposely to keep a Christmas as they call it. |
c. As
int. or expletive. Also with supporting word, as
Jiminy Christmas!| 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. iv. 91 Jiminy Christmas! That gives me the blue creevles. 1898 ― Day's Work 217 I've bin down to Track 17, and the freight there—oh, Christmas! 1930 ‘E. Queen’ French Powder Myst. xxxvi. 276 Christmas!.. How stupid I've been! 1959 N. Marsh False Scent (1960) vi. 192 ‘All right with you, Bertie?’ ‘Oh, Christmas!’ he said. ‘I suppose so.’ |
2. dial. and
nursery lang. Holly and other evergreens used for decorations at Christmas.
| a 1825 Forby Christmas, the evergreens with which our churches and houses are still decorated at the season of Christmas. 1878 Britten & Holland Eng. Plant-n. Christmas. Ilex Aquifolium. Camb.; Ches. (but only so called when used for Christmas decorations); Hants; Wight; Norf.; Suff.; Suss. 1884 Cheshire Gloss. (E.D.S.) Christmas, evergreens used in Christmas decorations; often Kismus. [So in most dialect glossaries.] |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
Christmas brand,
Christmas carol (see
carol n. 3 b),
Christmas dinner,
Christmas game,
Christmas-hamper,
Christmas-keeper,
Christmas morning,
Christmas night,
Christmas party,
Christmas time, etc., etc.
| a 1500 Songs & Carols 15th C. (1847) 22 (Mätz.) Yt sprong up on cristmes nyȝt. a 1553 Udall Royster D. iv. ii. (Arb.) 60 I shrew their best Christmasse chekes both togetherward. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Dec. 26 To..gather nuttes to make me Christmas game. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 462 Like a Christmas Comedie. 1591 Greene Maiden's Dreame xxxiii, He kept no Christmas-house for once a year. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. Intr. ii. 141 A Christmas gambold, or a tumbling tricke. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. Prol. (Arb.) 4 Its a Christmas toy indeede. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. (1682) 475 The best, and most bountiful Christmas-keepers..that ever I saw in the Christian World. 1636 Prynne Unbish. Tim. Ep. (1661) 25 Playing the part of a Bishop, as a Christmas game-player doth of a King. 1648 Herrick Hesper., Candlem. Day, Kindle the Christmas brand, and then Till sunset let it burn. 1721 R. Palmer Let. 15 Apr. in M. M. Verney Verney Lett. (1930) II. xxiv. 86 In the Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun holidays, our penny post comes but once a day. 1799 Southey Sonn. xv, Watching the children at their Christmas mirth. a 1817 Jane Austen Persuasion (1818) ii. ii. 34, I hope I shall remember in future..not to call at Uppercross in the Christmas holidays. 1824 B. Hall Jrnl. 31 Dec. in Lockhart Scott, Your Christmas and New Year's parties seem generally dull. 1824 Miss Mitford Village i. (1863) 217 The Christmas-dinner visits of a gay..neighbourhood. 1826 in Hone Every Day Bk. II. 187 These Christmas bills, these Christmas bills. 1835 J. S. Mill in Examiner 4 Jan. 4/2 They form one of the most agreeable of Christmas presents to a lover of music. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxviii, How many..dormant sympathies, does Christmas time awaken! Ibid. xxx, As he took his seat at the breakfast table on Christmas morning. 1842 Tennyson Morte d'Arthur 305, I..heard..The clear church-bells ring in the Christmas morn. 1848 A. Somerville Autobiogr. Working Man ix. 108 The Christmas pantomime..that season [sc. 1828]..was Mother Goose. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxviii. iii, The Christmas bells..Answer each other. Ibid. xxx. ii, Did we weave..The holly round the Christmas hearth. 1859 M. Lemon (title), A Christmas Hamper. 1890 G. B. Shaw London Music (1937) 289 Passing Her Majesty's Theatre, I saw by the placards that a Christmas pantomime was going on inside. 1893 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Dec. 17/1 My Christmas shopping. 1932 R. Lehmann Invit. Waltz i. viii. 87, I always think with Christmas shopping it's best to get it done in good time. 1934 Discovery Dec. 362/1 In considering what books are suitable as Christmas presents for our friends, it is worth while remembering that many of the younger generation can do with something better than Auntie Omega's Yuletide Annual. 1936 Ibid. Feb. 35/1 The title to fathership of the Imperial family, which the King..had accepted in one of his Christmas broadcasts. 1965 ‘P. Nichols’ Patchwork of Death (1967) iv. 19 There was the Christmas rush beginning. |
4. Special combs.
Christmas book,
† (
a) ‘a book in which people were accustomed to keep an account of the Christmas presents they received’ (Nares); (
b) a book published at Christmas, and intended to be in some respect suitable to the season;
Christmas bush, (
a) any of various Australian shrubs,
esp. Ceratopetalum gummiferum of N.S. Wales, used in Christmas decorations; (
b) a Bermuda shrub,
Cassia bicapsularis, used for hedges;
Christmas candle, a large candle formerly burnt at Christmas (see Brand
Pop. Antiq. (1870) I. 253);
Christmas-card, an ornamental card sent by way of Christmas greeting; (the custom began in England about 1867); also used
attrib.,
esp. = chocolate-boxy (
chocolate 5);
Christmas daisy, the late flowering
Aster grandiflorus;
Christmas-day, the 25th of December;
Christmas-eve, the evening before Christmas-day;
Christmas fern, a N. American evergreen fern;
Christmas flower, (
a) the Christmas Rose,
Helleborus niger; (
b) the Winter Aconite,
Eranthis hyemalis (Britten & Holland);
† Christmas herb (Lyte), the Christmas Rose;
† Christmas King = Christmas Lord;
† Christmas-log, a large clump of wood customarily burnt at Christmas, a yule-log;
† Christmas Lord, the ‘Lord of Misrule’, formerly elected to lead the revels about Christmas-time;
Christmas number, the part of a serial publication issued at Christmas;
Christmas-pie, a pie eaten at Christmas,
esp. a
mince-pie;
Christmas-pride, the plant
Ruellia paniculata of Jamaica;
† Christmas Prince = Christmas Lord;
Christmas-pudding, the plum-pudding at the Christmas dinner;
Christmas-rose, a species of Hellebore (
Helleborus niger) with large white flowers, commonly cultivated in gardens, in bloom from December to February;
Christmas shield-fern U.S. = Christmas fern;
Christmas-tide, the season of Christmas, Christmas-time. See also
Christmas-box,
tree.
| 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. v. ii. (Arb.) 65 Looke in my *Christmas booke who brought me a present. 1875 Ruskin Fors Clav. V. 77 As I was looking over Christmas Books of last year. |
| 1884 A. Nilson Timber Trees N.S.W. 135 *Christmas bush, Ceratopetalum gummiferum. 1888 Mrs. McCann Poet. Wks. 226 Gorgeous tints adorn The Christmas bush with a crimson blush. 1964 Mod. Encycl. Austral. & N.Z. 241/1 Christmas bush... Beautiful small tree or bush with graceful green foliage. |
| 1625 J. Collinges Caveat for Prof. xxvii. (1653) 112 Like our *Christmas candles. 1703 Country Farmers' Catech. in Brand Pop. Antiq. (1870) I. 287 My daughter don't look with sickly pale looks, like an unlit Chritmas Candle. 1712 J. James Gardening 168 It looks like an Apple-Tree or like a Christmas-Candlestick twisted into several Branches. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk., Christmas Eve, Beside the accustomed lights, two great wax tapers, called Christmas candles..were placed on a highly polished buffet. 1846 Dickens Pictures from Italy 181 Little tapers, like what are called Christmas candles in England. 1940 L. Macneice Last Ditch 21 Your long ear⁓rings twisted like Christmas candles. |
| 1883 Ruskin Fors Clav. VIII. 219 There is a *Christmas card, with a picture of English ‘nativity’ for you. 1895 G. B. Shaw Our Theatres in Nineties (1932) I. 203 Christmas-card verse of the ‘rose by any other name’ order. 1907 ― Major Barbara i. 209 Your Christmas card moralities..are of no use to me. 1910 Westm. Gaz. 3 Jan. 4/2 The New Year's card, that refuge of the laggard Christmas-card sender. 1962 J. B. Priestley Margin Released iii. iv. 183 A sort of Christmas-card past. |
| 1828 Loudon Encycl. Plants s.v. Aster, A very numerous genus of plants commonly called in England, *Christmas Daisies. 1866 Treas. Bot. s.v. Aster, From their time of flowering Asters are often called Michaelmas Daisies and Christmas Daisies. |
| 138. Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 236 On *Cristemasse day. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 470 King Henry..did in the honour of Christes birth on Christmas day refreshe all the pore people with victuall. 1655 Evelyn Diary 25 Dec. There was no more notice taken of Christmas day in churches. 1872 Mrs. Alexander Wooin' o't xxv, Christmas Day was all that Christmas Day should be —clear, crisp, bright. |
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 734 Þus..Bi contray caryez þis knyȝt, til *kryst-masse euen. 138. Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 311 (title), Þis is þe gospel þat is rad on Cristemasse Evyn. a 1613 Overbury Characters, Franklin, The wakefull ketches on Christmas Eve. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxx. iv, Sadly fell our Christmas-eve. |
| 1878 J. Williamson Ferns of Kentucky 99 (heading) Aspidium acrostichoides..Winter Fern—*Christmas Fern. 1880 J. Robinson Flora Essex Co., Mass. 135 Aspidium acrostichoides, Sw. (Christmas fern.) Rocky woods, Common. 1889 Cent. Dict., Christmas fern, Aspidium acrostichoides, a fern having simply pinnate fronds of firm texture, which remain green through the winter. |
| 1629 Parkinson Parad. lxxxi. 344 The true blacke Hellebor, or *Christmas flower. 1889 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Broomsedge Cove xix, He stopped to pick a spray of the lilac ‘Christmas flower’. |
| 1537 in Brand Pop. Antiq. I. 279 In a letter of 1537 the Curate of St. Margaret's, Lothbury..says, that the people made no more of God than if he had been ‘a *Christmas King.’ |
| 1648 Herrick Hesper., Cerem. Christm., Bring..the *Christmas Log to the firing. |
| c 1565 Churchyard Lament. Freyndshypp in Brand Pop. Antiq. I. 279 Jestes and boordes, That *Christmas Lordes were wonte to speke. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. in ibid. I. 273 In Merton College..the Fellows annually elected, about St. Edmund's Day, in November, a Christmas Lord, or Lord of Misrule. |
| 1857 C. M. Yonge Dynevor Terrace I. xv. 252 What Quarterly was it? Surely the *Christmas number was not out. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 29 Dec. 2/3 The imagination of Christmas-number artists. 1928 Granta 30 Nov., I reckon if forty or so Christmas numbers of the Granta haven't said all there is in the way of little bits about Christmas, it's not for me to start digging skeletons out of the cupboard. |
| 1643 Plain English 25 As easie to win a Towne..as to make a breach in the wals of a *Christmas Pie. 1661 Relig. Hypocr. Presbyt. in Brand Pop. Antiq. I. 294 Three Christmass or Minc'd Pies. 1689 Selden Table T. (Arb.) 33 The coffin of our Christmas Pies in shape long, is in imitation of the cratch. ? 1725 H. Carey Namby Pamby Jacky Horner Sitting in the Chimney-Corner, Eating of a Christmas-Pie. 1747 H. Glasse Cookery viii, A Yorkshire Christmas-Pye. |
| 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 267 *Christmas Pride. This plant..generally blows in the months of December and January. |
| 1598 Gilpin Skialeth. in Brand Pop. Antiq. I. 279 A player to a *Christmas prince. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. ibid. I. 273 The Christmas Prince of St. John's College [Oxford], whom the Juniors have annually..elected. |
| 1858 Trollope Dr. Thorne xxi, Doomed to eat his *Christmas pudding alone. |
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 104/1 Hellebor, or Christmas Flower..some call..the *Christmas or New-Years Rose. 1852 D. Moir Poems, Birth Flowers xv, The Christmas rose Shall blossom, though it be 'mid snows. |
| 1878 J. Williamson Ferns of Kentucky 98 Pl. 36, Aspidium acrostichoides..*Christmas Shield-Fern. 1884 W. Miller Plant-n. 164 Aspidium acrostichoides, Christmas Shield-Fern, of N. America. |
| 1626 Roper Life More 3 in Brand Pop. Antiq. I. 274 [Sir Thomas More]..would..at *Christmas tyd sodenly sometymes stepp in among the Players. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xii. (1878) 233 After this Christmas-tide, I found myself in closer relationship to my parishioners. |
▸
Christmas cactus n. an epiphytic cactus,
Schlumbergera × buckleyi, with flattened segmented stems, native to Brazil and grown as an indoor plant elsewhere for the long pink flowers it produces in winter.
| 1923 N. C. Britton & J. N. Rose Cactaceae IV. 178 This species has been cultivated widely for many years under various names. It was introduced into cultivation in 1818 and..has since been a great favorite as a household plant, blooming freely about the end of the year, hence the name *Christmas cactus. 1950 F. Klees Pennsylvania Dutch xxix. 398 Then as now a Christmas cactus summered in a shady spot; and in the morning sunlight stood a tub of lilies. 1978G. D. Rowley in V. H. Heywood Flowering Plants of World 65/2 Many a cottage gardener cherishing a ‘Christmas cactus’ or ‘Ackermanii’ fails to associate it with cacti at all. 1997 J. Sylvester Mark of Flesh 58 An aunt who yearly bloomed into pink silk like a Christmas cactus. |
▪ II. Christmas, v. colloq. (
ˈkrɪsməs)
[f. prec. n.] Used in several trivial senses:
† a. trans. (
nonce-use.) To provide with Christmas cheer (
obs.).
b. trans. To adorn with Christmas decorations.
c. intr. To celebrate Christmas. Hence
Christmasing vbl. n.| 1594 Chapman Hymn. in Noct. (N.), When loves are Christmast with all pleasure's sorts. 1806 Southey Lett. (1856) I. 351 While you have been Christmassing in the country. 1829 E. Jesse Jrnl. Naturalist 364 ‘Christmassing,’ as we call it, the decorating our churches, houses, and market meats with evergreens, is yet retained among us. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 141 In London a large trade is carried on in ‘Christmasing,’ or in the sale of holly and mistletoe, for Christmas sports and decorations. Ibid. Properly to Christmas St. Paul's would take 50l. worth at least. 1883 Harper's Mag. Jan. 240/1 A pair of..dolls, which were to constitute the central pivot of her Christmasings. 1884 Daily News 16 Feb. 5/3 Two policemen who had too obviously been ‘Christmassing.’ |