Of Christmas And Xmas

Christmas is also sometimes known as Xmas. Some people don't think it's correct to call Christmas 'Xmas' as that takes the 'Christ' (Jesus) out of Christmas (As Christmas comes from Christ-Mass, the Church service that celebrated the birth of Jesus). But that is not quite right!


It turns out, Xmas is not a non-religious version of Christmas. The X actually indicates the Greek letter “chi”. In the Greek language and alphabet, the letter that looks like an X is the Greek letter chi/Χ (pronounced 'kye' - it rhymes with 'eye') which is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ, Christos. 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.

The early church used the first two letters of Christos in the Greek alphabet 'chi' and 'rho' to create a monogram (symbol) to represent the name of Jesus. This looks like an X with a small p on the top: ☧


So Xmas can also mean Christmas; but it should also be pronounced 'Christmas' rather than 'ex-mas'!

Bonus Facts:

• The “-mas” part on the end of Christmas and Xmas comes from the Old English word for “mass”.
• The Greek letters “X” (Chi) and “p” (Rho) superimposed together was once a very common symbol signifying Christ and was called, somewhat unimaginatively, the Chi-Rho.
• The Chi-Rho was also used by scribes in a non-religious sense to mark some passage that was particularly good, with it literally implying “good”.
• In 1977, the Governor of New Hampshire issued a press release stating that journalists should cease taking the “Christ” out of “Christmas” as “Xmas” was a pagan spelling of Christmas. 

I've always been a proponent for writing and pronouncing CHRISTMAS. Coming upon this article was enlightening for me. However, I prefer to write and say Christmas and not Xmas. Have a Merry Christmas people! 

Culled and edited. Images: Google