With the holidays upon us, Webb’s Weird Words returns to its fall-season focus on etymology — that is, word origins.
This week and next, I’ll unpack two dozen terms we rarely use except at Christmastime: words like noel, manger, poinsettia and egg nog, for example.
Our first batch below is largely religious, with secular terms saved for December 20th.
(And for the record: We’re interested here only in the actual words — what they mean, and where they came from; so I won’t cover broader traditions like why we kiss under mistletoe and so forth.)
Advent – The one word this week that’s often used elsewhere, it means “arrival” or “coming into place” (as in, “the advent of TV”). When capitalized, it refers to the arrival of Christ, and marks a time of preparation over four Sundays before Christmas (different denominations use slightly different dates).
Etymologically, it derives from two very common Latin elements: the prefix a(d), meaning to or toward (as in advance, attract and countless others); plus ven(t), meaning to come — from which we get dozens of words (intervene, convention, venture, the Spanish venir, etc.).
Bethlehem – In ancient Hebrew, the name of this “little town” means “house of bread.” Beth = “house,” and is thus often used for Jewish synagogues like Williamsport’s Beth Ha Sholom (“house of peace”) or Sunbury’s Beth-El (“house of God”).
Christmas – As you may have guessed, this is simply a more pronounceable version of “Christ’s Mass,” referring of course to the Catholic worship service. For Xmas, see below.
Epiphany – Sometimes used as a common noun meaning sudden revelation (“I had an epiphany!”), Epiphany, when capitalized, refers to a religious holiday — in this case Jan. 6, memorializing Jesus’ being revealed to the wise men (or “magi”; see below). This marks the 12th day after Dec. 25, and thus concludes the famous “12 days of Christmas.” In fact, the January holiday is sometimes referred to as 12th Day — or (especially if you’re a Shakespeare fan) 12th Night.
The Latin base phan means “to appear” or “show”; it occurs in other words such as phantom, fantasy and emphasize.
Frankincense, Myrrh – Along with gold, two gifts presented to the Christ-child by the wise men in Matthew 2:11. Both are pleasant-smelling, tree-based gum resins; the former is also called olibanum and literally means incense that is “true,” “noble” or “superior.” According to the Biblical Archaeology Society, all three items were “standard gifts to honor a king or deity in the ancient world.”
Holiday – A simple contraction of “holy day,” reminding us that throughout human history — and oddly contrary to much modern custom — most such observances had a religious origin.
Kris Kringle – Popularized in the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street, this alternate name for Santa Claus is a slight variation of the German Christkindl, meaning “Christ child.” (That’s kind(l), as in the better-known kindergarten!) Long before St. Nick, he was the traditional gift-bringer in much of Central Europe.
Magi – Traditional name for famed foreign visitors who came to see the young Jesus. Translating the Bible’s actual term magoi, it probably refers to high-ranking priests or religious figures rather than to “kings” per se. The base mag, incidentally, also gave us magic.
Contrary to popular tradition — as in, for example, “We Three Kings,” which was written by a Williamsport pastor — the Bible never says how many there were; that is simply inferred from the three gifts mentioned. Likewise, they almost certainly visited much later than the night of his birth; Matt. 2:11 says “house,” not “stable.”
Manger – While it has been somewhat romanticized by frequent carols and Christmas-story readings, a manger is nothing more than a feeding trough — perhaps not a terribly sanitary cradle for a holy baby! The original Latin word means “to eat” or “chew” and also gave us mandible, mange and masticate, along with the famous Italian mother’s mandate, “Mangia!”
Nativity – Another regular word that rarely gets used except in December, it simply means birth. From the Latin nat, which gave us hundreds of words: native, nation, nature, prenatal, innate, Renaissance and many others — along with this next one:
Noel – Shortened from the Latin natalis dies, or “birthday,” noel can mean Christmas — or a carol for that season. (We’ll cover “carol” next week!)
Xmas – In younger days I was alarmed that this abbreviation seemed to deliberately omit the very person for which the day is named — until I learned that the X is not a “cross out,” but rather stands for chi, first Greek letter in “Christ.”
So merry Xmas after all — and watch here for another batch of holiday terms next week!
