Santa Claus

English

A Japanese depiction of Santa Claus circa 1914.

Alternative forms

• Santa Clause, Santaclaus, Santa Klaus, Santiclaus, Santy Claus, Santeclaus (variously obsolete or nonstandard)

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch Sinterklaas (“Saint Nicholas”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsæn.təˌklɔːz/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsæn.təˌklɑz/, /ˈsæn.təˌklɔz/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈsæːn.təˌkloːz/

Proper noun

Santa Claus (plural Santa Clauses)

1. (folklore) A figure said to bring presents to people (especially children) at Christmas time.

   Synonyms: Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Saint Claus, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Santa

   • 1773 December 26, New York Gazette, p. 3:

     Last Monday the Anniversary of St. Nicholas, otherwise called St. A Claus, was celebrated at Protestant-Hall.

   • 1808 January 25, Salmagundi, p. 407:

     The noted St. Nicholas, vulgarly called Santaclaus—of all the saints in the kalendar the most venerated by true hollanders, and their unsophisticated descendants.

   • 1828 November, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, letter to his mother from Italy:

     Here, too, the winter festivals are just commencing; and the toy-shops are full of dolls and gew-gaws for the Bifana, who acts here the same comedy for children that Santiclaus does in America.

   • 1937 August, Lawrence Martin, "The Odyssey of a Bogeyman", Esquire, Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 39:

     This is one of the developments Karl Marx failed to predict. Had he foreseen it he might have expired in guffaws, rolling in the aisle of the British Museum Library amid the notes for Das Kapital, that bearded Santa Claus of the revolution who slipped the unwanted gift of communism down the world's chimneys.

   • 1980, Douglas Day Stewart, The Blue Lagoon:

     Emmeline: Oh Richard, you can't know everything. Only God knows everything.
     Richard: God—He can't find us any better than Santa Claus.

   • 2005, Gerry Bowler, “Santa the Adman”, in Santa Claus: A Biography, McClelland & Stewart, →ISBN, page 142:

     By 1900, department-store Santa Clauses were common – lodged in grottoes, cottages, and workshops or on thrones, they presided over a never-ending stream of children.

2. (by extension) A generous source of free gifts or benefits.
   • 1978, Henry Grayson, Clemens A. Loew, Changing approaches to the psychotherapies, page 314:

     I then probe as to whether he is waiting for some Santa Claus to make him well, strong, and happy, or whether he is waiting for rigor mortis to deliver him from his earthly troubles.

3. A town in Spencer County, Indiana. Original name: Santa Fe.
4. A city in Georgia, United States.
5. A ghost town in Arizona.

Derived terms

• Mistress Santa Claus, Mrs Santa Claus, Mrs. Santa Claus
• Santa
• Santa Claus melon
• Santa Paws

Translations

fictional figure

• Afrikaans: Vader Kersfees, Kersvader
• Albanian: Baba Dimri (sq)
• Amharic: የገና አባት (yägäna ʾäbat)
• Arabic: بَابَا نُوِيل m (bābā nuwīl)
• Armenian: Ձմեռ Պապ (Jmeṙ Pap), Կաղանդ Պապ (Kaġand Pap)
• Azerbaijani: Santa Klaus (Western style), Şaxta baba (Slavic style), Ayaz Ata (Turkic mythology)
• Bashkir: Ҡыш бабай (Qış babay)
• Belarusian: Дзед Маро́з m (Dzjed Maróz) (Slavic style), Са́нта-Кла́ус m (Sánta-Kláus) (Western style)
• Breton: Tad Kozh an Nedeleg, Tad Kozh ar Pellgent
• Bulgarian: Дя́до Мраз m (Djádo Mraz), Дя́до Коледа m (Djádo Koleda)
• Burmese: ဆန်တာကလော့စ် (hcantaka.lauc.)
• Catalan: Pare Noel m
• Cherokee: ᏗᎭᏄᎧᎯ (dihanukahi)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 聖誕老人／圣诞老人 (sing³ daan³ lou⁵ jan⁴)

  Hokkien: 聖誕老人／圣诞老人 (zh-min-nan) (Sèng-tàn-lāu-lâng)

  Mandarin: 聖誕老人／圣诞老人 (zh) (Shèngdàn lǎorén), 耶誕老人／耶诞老人 (zh) (Yēdàn lǎorén, Yédàn lǎorén) (Taiwan)

• Cornish: Tas Nadelik
• Czech: Santa Claus m, Ježíšek (cs) m
• Danish: julemanden c, sankt Nikolaus c
• Dutch: Kerstman (nl) m (Christmas), Sinterklaas (nl) m (5-6 December), Sint-Nicolaas (nl) m (5-6 December)
• Esperanto: Avo Frosto (eo) (Father Frost, Christmas), Sankta Nikolao (Saint Nicholas) (6 December), Kristnaska Viro
• Estonian: Jõuluvana
• Faroese: jólamaður m
• Finnish: joulupukki (fi)
• French: Père Noël (fr) m, Papa Noël m (Father Christmas), Saint Nicolas m (6 December)
• Galician: Papá Noel m
• Georgian: თოვლის ბაბუა (ka) (tovlis babua), თოვლის პაპა m (tovlis ṗaṗa), სანტა კლაუსი (sanṭa ḳlausi) (Western style)
• German: Weihnachtsmann (de) m (Christmas), Christkind (de) n (Christmas; different figure with same role), Nikolaus (de) m (6 December), Samichlaus m (Switzerland)
• Greek: Άγιος Βασίλης (el) (Ágios Vasílis)
• Greenlandic: juulimaaq
• Haitian Creole: Tonton Nwèl
• Hawaiian: Kanakaloka
• Hebrew: סנטה קלאוס m (santa klaus)
• Hindi: सांता क्लॉस m (sāntā klŏs), सांता क्लॉज़ m (sāntā klŏz)
• Hungarian: Mikulás (hu)
• Icelandic: jólasveinninn m
• Ido: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: Sinterklas
• Irish: Daidí na Nollag m, San Nioclás m, Saintí
• Italian: Babbo Natale (it) m
• Japanese: サンタクロース (ja) (Santa Kurōsu)
• Kazakh: Аяз ата (Aäz ata), Санта-Клаус (Santa-Klaus)
• Khmer: តាណូអែល (taa nouʼael)
• Korean: 산타 클로스 (Santa Keulloseu)
• Lao: ຊານຕາ ຄລອດສ (sān tā kha lǭt sa)
• Latin: pater natālis m
• Latvian: Ziemassvētku vecītis m
• Lithuanian: kalėdų senelis m
• Luxembourgish: Kleeschen m
• Macedonian: Дедо Мраз m (Dedo Mraz)
• Maltese: Santa Klaws
• Manx: Noo Niglus m
• Maori: Hana Kōkō
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: Санта Клаус (Santa Klaus), Өвлийн өвгөн (Övliin övgön)

• Navajo: Késhmish Hastiin
• Norman: Papa Noué m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: julenisse m

• Ottoman Turkish: نوئل بابا, نوئل پدر, پدر نوئل
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: بابا نوئِل (bâbâ no'el), بابانوئِل (fa) (bâbâno'el)

• Plautdietsch: Wienachtsmaun m
• Polish: Święty Mikołaj (pl) m
• Portuguese: Pai Natal (pt) m (Portugal, Mozambique), Papai Noel (pt) m (Brazil)
• Romanian: Moș Crăciun (ro) m
• Russian: Дед Моро́з (ru) m (Ded Moróz) (Slavic style), Санта-Кла́ус (ru) m (Santa-Kláus) (Western style)
• Sami:

  Skolt Sami: rosttovkääʹlles

• Scots: Faither Yuil, Santae Claus
• Scottish Gaelic: Bodach na Nollaige m, Daidaín na Nollaig
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Деда Мраз m

  Roman: Deda Mraz m

• Sinhala: නත්තල් සීය (nattal sīya)
• Slovak: Mikuláš m
• Slovene: Božiček m
• Spanish: Papá Noel (es) (Spain, South America), Santa Claus (es) (Latin America), Viejito Pascuero (es) (Chile), San Nicolás (es) (Honduras, Venezuela)
• Swedish: jultomten (sv) c, julgubben c (Finland), tomten (sv)
• Tagalog: Santa-Klaus m
• Tajik: Бобои Барфӣ (Boboyi Barfī)
• Tamil: நத்தார் தாத்தா (nattār tāttā), கிறித்துமசு தாத்தா (kiṟittumacu tāttā), சாண்டா குலோஸ் (cāṇṭā kulōs)
• Thai: ซานตาคลอส (saan-dtaa-klɔ́ɔt), ซานตา (saan-dtâa)
• Turkish: Noel Baba (tr)
• Ukrainian: Святи́й Микола́й m (Svjatýj Mykoláj), Дід Моро́з m (Did Moróz) (Slavic style), Са́нта-Кла́ус m (Sánta-Kláus) (Western style)
• Urdu: سانْتا کِلاز m (sāntā kilāz), سانْتا کْلاز m (sāntā klāz)
• Uzbek: Santa Klaus, Avliyo Nikolas, Qorbobo
• Vietnamese: ông già Nô en, ông già Santa, ông già Noel
• Volapük: Fatül Kritid
• Welsh: Siôn Corn, Santa Clos
• Zealandic: Sinterklaos

See also

• Father Frost
• Jesus
• Mrs. Claus
• Three Wise Men (holiday gift bringers in some cultures)

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈsan.tə ˈklaws]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [ˈsan.ta ˈklaws]

Proper noun

Santa Claus m

1. Santa Claus

   Synonyms: Pare Nadal, Pare Noel