The word Christmas is derived Middle English Christemasse and from Old English Cristes m?sse.It is a contraction meaning "Christ's mass". The name of the holiday is often shortened to Xmas because Roman letter "X" resembles the Greek letter Χ (chi), an abbreviation for Christ.
In Western countries, Christmas has become the most economically significant holiday of the year. The popularity of Christmas can be traced in part to its status as a winter festival. Many cultures have their most important holiday in winter because there is less agricultural work to do at this time. Examples of winter festivals that are believed by some to have influenced Christmas include the pre-Christian festivals of Yule and Saturnalia.
In Western culture, the holiday is characterized by the exchange of gifts among friends and family members, some of the gifts being attributed to Santa Claus (also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, and Father Frost). However, various local and regional Christmas traditions are still practiced, despite the widespread influence of American, British and Australian Christmas motifs disseminated by film, popular literature, television, and other media.
翻译：
圣诞节是在十二月二十五日庆祝耶稣基督的诞生于基督教的节日。东正教教堂，使用朱利安日历确定节日，庆祝一月七日的公历。这两个日期都只是传统的和不被认为是耶稣实际出生日期。基督的诞生，或基督诞生，据说是履行旧约的预言关于弥赛亚的到来，或救世主。
圣诞节这个词是来自中世纪英语Christemasse和古英语Cristes mSSE。它是一个收缩的意思是“基督弥撒”。这个节日的名字经常被简称为圣诞节因为罗马字母“X”类似于希腊字母Χ(卡)，缩写为基督的缘故
在西方国家，圣诞节成了一年中最具有经济意义的节日。圣诞节的流行可以追溯到它的地位作为一个冬天的节日。许多文化，因为有较少的农业工作做在这个时候在冬季最重要的节日。冬季的节日，被一些人认为是影响了圣诞节的例子包括Yule和农神节前的基督教节日。
在西方文化中，节日的特点是之间交换礼物的朋友和家人，有些礼物被归因于圣克劳斯(也被称为圣诞老人，圣尼古拉斯，和父亲霜)。然而，各地的圣诞传统仍然实行，尽管美国的广泛影响，英国和澳大利亚的圣诞图案广泛的大众文学，电影，电视，和其他媒体。
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