The word ‘Xmas’ is not just a lazy abbreviation for ‘Christmas’.
It comes from Greek, which was the language of the gospels. Using the Greek alphabet, the word Christ was represented with the Chi-Rho symbol. This is a combination of an ‘X’ (Chi) and a ‘P’ (Rho).
In 1436, with the printing invention of moveable type, Christian scholars wanted to get Bibles, service books and religious writings out to the population as quickly as possible. To save time and paper printers began to use ‘Xmas’ instead of ‘Christmas’. The word spread from Germany to the rest of the world. The early printers’ shorthand of ‘Xtian’ did not stick, but Xmas is still widely used today.
Did you know Christmas was completely banned in Britain under Oliver Cromwell?
