Old English · noun
Χp̃es mæssa
- Part of speech
- noun, feminine
Meaning
Xmas, Christmas
On þison geare se cyng Willelm heold his hired to Χp̃es mæssa on Gleaweceastre. ⁊ to Eastron on Winceastre. ⁊ to Pentecosten on Westmynstre.
In this year the King William held his court at Xmas in Gloucester, and at Easter in Winchester, and at Pentecost in Westminster.
c. 1100, John Earle, editor, Two of the Saxon chronicles parallel, Oxford: Clarendon, published 1892, page 235:
Etymology
From Cristes mæsse, the abbreviation of Crist by the symbol X, from Ancient Greek Χ (Kh, “(letter chi)”), from Χριστός (Khristós, “Christ”).
Descendants
x'temmas, xmas, xtmas
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Χp̃es_mæssa · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution