Yule
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Yule
(yo͞ol)n.
Christmas or the Christmas season, especially as traditionally celebrated in Northern Europe and North America with customs stemming in part from pagan celebrations of the winter solstice.
[Middle English yole, from Old English geōl.]
Word History: Yule comes from Old English geōl, "Christmas Day, Christmastide." In the time before the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity, geōl was the name of a winter festival held sometime during the time of the year we would now call December. After their conversion, the Anglo-Saxons continued to use geōl as the name for the great Christian feast occurring at the same time, Christmas. Other pagan peoples speaking Germanic languages held similar festivals, and among the Norse, the winter festival was called jōl, using the Old Norse equivalent of Old English geōl. After the conversion of Scandinavia to Christianity, jōl was put to new use just as geōl had been in Great Britain, and the usual word for Christmas is still Jul in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, the descendants of Old Norse. The Anglo-Saxon church did not discourage this kind of reapplication of native Germanic words to the new Christian traditions emanating from the Mediterranean world, and today, several other Christian holidays have English names with Anglo-Saxon roots. Easter, for example, descends from Old English ēastre, which comes from the name of a springtime festival celebrated by the Anglo-Saxons' pagan ancestors to honor the goddess of the dawn. Lent comes from Old English lencten, originally meaning "spring" and related to the word long, since the days become longer in spring.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
yule
(juːl)n
(Ecclesiastical Terms) (sometimes capital) literary archaic or dialect
a. Christmas, the Christmas season, or Christmas festivities
b. (in combination): yuletide.
[Old English geōla, originally a name of a pagan feast lasting 12 days; related to Old Norse jōl, Swedish jul, Gothic jiuleis]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
yule
(yul)n.
Christmas, or the Christmas season.
[before 900; Middle English yole, Old English geōl(a), c. Old Norse jōl orig., a pagan festival held near midwinter; akin to Gothic jiuleis]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Noun | 1. | Yule - period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6 Boxing Day - first weekday after Christmas season - a recurrent time marked by major holidays; "it was the Christmas season" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
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Julfest
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
yule
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007