Xmas is a common
abbreviation of the word
Christmas. It is sometimes pronounced
//, but
Xmas and variants such as
Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation
//. The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived
Old English word for
Mass, while the "X" comes from the
Greek letter
Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word
Χριστός which comes into English as "
Christ".
There is a
common belief that the word
Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to the 16th century. So “Xmas” and “Christmas” are equivalent in every way except their lettering.
In fact, although writing guides such as those issued by the New York Times; the BBC; The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style; and Oxford Press discourage the use of Xmas in formal writing, at one time, it was a very popular practice, particularly with religious scribes, who are thought to have started the whole “Xmas” thing in the first place. Indeed, the practice of using the symbol “X” in place of Christ’s name has been going on amongst religious scholars for at least 1000 years.
Eventually, this shorthand trick spread to non-religious writings where nearly everywhere “Christ” appeared in a word, the Greek Chi would replace that part of the word. For example, in the 17th and 18th centuries, there are numerous non-religious documents containing instances of “Xine”, which was a common spelling for someone whose name was Christine.
I want to offer, on behalf of the ABC Wednesday team, a sincere wish that your Xmas, or Christmas, be a merry one.
