| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| Xmas |
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| SYLLABICATION: | X·mas |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  kr s m s,  ksms |
| NOUN: | Christmas. | | ETYMOLOGY: | From X, the Greek letter chi, first letter of Greek Khr stos, Christ. See Christ. | | USAGE NOTE: | Xmas has been used for hundreds of years in religious writing, where the X represents a Greek chi, the first letter of        , “Christ.” In this use it is parallel to other forms like Xtian, “Christian.” But people unaware of the Greek origin of this X often mistakenly interpret Xmas as an informal shortening pronounced (ksms). Many therefore frown upon the term Xmas because it seems to them a commercial convenience that omits Christ from Christmas.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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