Why is "Christmas" spelt "Xmas"

Well, it has been spelt that was for a long time: probably over 500 years as the earliest recorded written forms go all the way back to the 1500s.

Different theories abound on why the spelling exists, the favourite linguistic one being that it is inspired by the Greek word for Christ: Xristos.

For other people it is symbolic: Jesus died on the cross and the X in Xmas is thereby regarded being a representation of the cross and of Christ himself.

For others, Xmas (when pronounced as ex-mass) is a secular way of referring to the seasonal celebrations without having to actually say Christ’s name.

There is also one other theory stemming from the fact that December used to be, under the original Roman calendar, the 10th month of the year: the year starting in March. The Roman numeral for 10 is X, so Xmas can be read as being the “mass of the tenth month”.

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