Christmas comes from the Old English Cristes maess or Kesmas, Cursmas or Cursmis, all meaning the mass or festival of Christ. Christmas is also written as Xmas. This X comes from an x-like Greek alphabet character, chi that is articulated as kee. Khristos, Greek for Christ, was abbreviated to chi or kee. This is one story about the origin of Xmas. Another story holds that since, in the Middle Ages, very few people were literate, they would make an elaborate mark instead of their signature. Mostly, this mark was the cross, the symbol of Christ that was often kissed after being made, in order to show the writer’s sincerity. This also explains the XXX used for kisses. This X came to be known as the Christ-cross and found its way into Xmas.

The word ‘yule’ could be related to a colloquial Scandinavian term meaning ‘wheel.’ In old English, the word ‘geol’ meant Christmas day and the Old Icelandic word jol is still used for Christmas. The concept of the wheel makes more sense, since this date marks the definitive point in the Wheel of the Year or, the solstice of weather, which for many cultures and calendars is the start of the New Year. Since this date represented the moment when the days would again become longer, and spring would return to the land, the rural folk who faced lean times in winter had reason to be thankful. The use of candles as decorations dating from ancient times clearly indicates the importance of honouring the deities of light.

The Dutch brought with them Sint Nikolaas or Sinter Klaas for the common people, that is, Saint Nicholas who was a tall, dignified religious figure riding a grey horse. Out of this evolved Santa Claus, a transformation that turned a kindly saint into a round, cheerful grandfather figure with a sack full of treats. The real St. Nicholas was a monk who lived around 280 A.D. in Myra, now Turkey. The most popular story goes that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into prostitution by their father who couldn’t provide them with a dowry.

St. Nicholas was supposedly caught by the father of these three daughters while throwing in three bags of gold coins into their window, during which a coin fell into some stockings by the fireplace and a misplaced shoe. St. Nicholas begged that his good deed remain a secret, but was revered anyway and eventually became Bishop of Myra — the patron saint of children.

While little is known about the real St. Nicholas, the story was enough to send children all over Europe to bed early with shoes lined up and stockings hung. In 1823, Clement Moore published An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas, better known as ’Twas the Night Before Christmas. Moore popularised the jolly, fat Santa Claus who flies from rooftop to rooftop in a sleigh led by a flying reindeer, making real children’s wish lists.

The Hindi soochi did not mean ‘list’ in Sanskrit. It originally meant a needle. Through usage, soochi came to denote a point from the soochi-vyuh, a military formation in the shape of an arrow. Since the most adept soldiers were kept at the point of this arrow, soochi began to carry the connotation of a fine point, indicating something. This idea of indication led to the use of soochi as the taalika or index of religious texts, leading onto a general list.