Why is Christmas often refered to as "Xmas"?

Stew54

Actually, Christmas is referred to as Xmas in many old Christian documents, X being the first letter of "Christ" in Greek. The main reason it is used nowadays though is that it is shorter and easier to write. Dec 22 04, 2:09 PM

MrsAce

It's seems the Greeks have it. The X in "Xmas" stands for the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter in Christos, the Greek word for "Christ," and a commonly used symbol to represent the name of Christ in religious writings. Dec 25 04, 8:19 PM

gmackematix

The popularity of the chi part of the old chi-rho symbol for Christ must also be aided by "X" being a cross. Dec 25 04, 9:55 PM

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