Xmas

thumb|right|alt=Illustration of a woman in a gingham dress standing in front of a large Christmas wreath|A 1922 advertisement in ''Ladies' Home Journal for Biberman Bros.: "Give her a for Xmas" Xmas (also X-mas) is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas. It is sometimes pronounced , but Xmas, and variants such as Xtemass'', originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation . The 'X' comes from the Greek letter , which is the first letter of the Greek word (), which became Christ in English. The suffix -mas is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass.

There is a common misconception that the word Xmas stems from a secularizing tendency to de-emphasize the religious tradition of Christmas, by taking the 'Christ' out of "Christmas". Nevertheless, the term's usage dates back to the 16th century, and corresponds to Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican liturgical use of various forms of chi-rho monogram. In English, "X" was first used as a scribal abbreviation for "Christ" in 1100; "X'temmas" is attested in 1551, and "Xmas" in 1721.