How to spell christmas

hear itchrist·mas/'krɪsməs/nounLong vowels

What it means: A holiday celebrated on December 25.

In a sentence: Santa brings gifts on Christmas morning.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as chrismas or christmass.

Same family: christmases, christmastime, christmas-tree, christmas-day, christmas-eve. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Christmas comes from Old English ‘Cristes mæsse,’ which means ‘Christ’s mass’ or ‘the church service of Christ.’ Over time, the two words were blended into the single modern word ‘Christmas.’

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

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