Results for: Xmas

27,389 Contributions

Answered

What does Xmas mean?

It is short for Christmas. The day most people celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas. The "-mas" part is from the Latin-d… (MORE)

1 person found this useful

Cabbagesforever

13 Contributions

Answered

In English Spelling and Pronunciation

Why do people say Xmas?

Because it is Christian shorthand for Christmas, the X standing for Christ. Way back when, Greek was the language of Christianity. The New Testament was written in Greek. Gr… (MORE)

1 person found this useful

Ntembu

32,417 Contributions

Answered

In Holidays and Traditions

When did Christmas become Xmas?

It dates from the mid 16th Century. The X is the Greek letter Chi (Christos or Christ). The shortened version is a lazy way of spelling Christmas and is offensive to some peop… (MORE)

1 person found this useful

The question and answer are locked and cannot be edited.

Magimark

188 Contributions

Answered

In Holidays and Traditions

Why is christmas sometimes spelled xmas?

To save time in writing or typing it & to save space on a document. === The "X" has been used as an abbreviation for Christ for almost 2000 years - it comes from the fi… (MORE)

4 people found this useful

The question and answer are locked and cannot be edited.

Wwward1948

25 Contributions

Answered

In Holidays and Traditions

Why is Christmas also known as Xmas?

The words Christmas and Xmas are both shortened versions of the phrase Christ's Mass. Christmas is a simple contraction of the two words and it is easy to see how Christ's M…ass became Christmas. The first letter of the word Xmas was not originally an X as we use it in the English language; what looks like an X is actually the English representation of the Greek letter Chi, χ, the first letter of the word Χριστός, meaning Christ. The letter Chi "χ" can also stand alone to represent the word Christ, so Xmas therefore literally translates as Christ-mas and that is how it should be pronounced, never as ex-mass. A more detailed explanation. The word Xmas was used long before cell-phone text messaging although texting may have greatly increased the usage of that particular word over Christmas. Centuries ago, Greek was the language of Christianity. The New Testament was written in Greek and we can still see traces of this in symbols and phrases that we still use today, such as calling God 'the alpha and the omega', meaning 'the beginning and the end', because alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and omega is the last. It is like calling Him the A to Z. Similarly, the 'Chi-Rho' symbol that looks like an 'X' superimposed over a 'P' is actually the Greek letters Chi (X) and Rho (P) which are the first letters in Christ's name. This symbol, like the fish, is almost as old as the Cross symbol of Christianity and can be found even in the early Christian Church catacombs in Rome, scratched on the walls. The co-incidence that the 'X' Chi letter also looks like a cross helped it being adopted to replace 'Christ'. So, from very early times Christians have used the Greek letter that looks like an X as an abbreviation of Christ. More recently, people have used an actual X instead, particularly if they don't know Greek. Some people object to the use of Xmas because they see it as 'crossing Christ out of Christmas' as though this is a modern practice attempting to appease other religious groups, but the use of Xmas seems to have became more widesrpead long ago, in the Middle Ages, when European religious clerics used it as a form of shorthand in their writings. (MORE)

Robert Janes

+ 34 others found this useful

Answered

In Holidays and Traditions

What does the X in Xmas mean?

Originally the X was not an X as we use it in the English alphabet; it was the Greek letter chi which looks very similar to an X. The Greek letter X (chi) is the first lette… (MORE)

35 people found this useful

Maxiogee

32,371 Contributions

Answered

In Christmas

What alphabet does abbreviation xmas come from?

The x in Xmas represents the Greek letter chi, which is the initial letter of Christos - the Greek for Christ. Christians came to use X as a symbol, and it crept into the En… (MORE)

1 person found this useful

Denis Thiessen

27,389 Contributions

Answered

In Holidays and Traditions

What does x stand for in xmas in Christmas?

X is "Christ" in Greek. The "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, translated as "Christ". There is a common misco… (MORE)

1 person found this useful

Answered

In Holidays and Traditions

Is Xmas an abbreviation for Christmas?

Yes, the term, normally capitalized Xmas or X-mas is an abbreviation for the word Christmas, often used where a shorter word is required. The term has been controversial amo… (MORE)

Answered

In Christmas

What symbolically does X represent in Xmas?

There are a number of ways to interpret the X symbolically, including: a way of excluding Christ from Christmas thus x-mas.it is not meant to be the letter x: it is a represe… (MORE)