Christkind

English

Etymology

From German Christkind.

Proper noun

Christkind

1. A personification of the baby Jesus who, in German-speaking parts of Europe, takes the place of Santa Claus

Synonyms

• Kris Kringle

Translations

Translations

• German: Christkind (de) n

  Silesian East Central German: Christkind n (diminutive: Christkindla n)

• Hungarian: Jézuska (hu)
• Low German:

  German Low German: Kindjees n

German

Etymology

Christ (“Christ”) +‎ Kind (“child”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʁɪstˌkɪnt/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Proper noun

Christkind n (proper noun, strong, genitive Christkindes or Christkinds, diminutive Christkindchen n or Christkindlein n)

1. (Christianity) Baby Jesus
2. A fictional angel-like creature, typically thought of as an apparition of Baby Jesus, which traditionally takes the place of Santa Claus as a bringer of Christmas presents in the German-language area, particularly but not exclusively in Catholic regions.

Noun

Christkind n (strong, genitive Christkindes or Christkinds, plural Christkinder)

1. A representation of the Christkind (as above)
2. (Austria, Southern Germany) Christmas gift
3. (Austria, otherwise humorous) giver of a Christmas gift
4. (humorous) someone born on Christmas Eve

Declension

Declension of Christkind [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Christkind	die	Christkinder
genitive	eines	des	Christkindes, Christkinds	der	Christkinder
dative	einem	dem	Christkind, Christkinde1	den	Christkindern
accusative	ein	das	Christkind	die	Christkinder

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• Christkindel, Christkindelein, Christkindl, Christkindli, Christkindlin (additional diminutives, regional or archaic)

Related terms

• Christkindlmarkt

Descendants

• → Cajun French: Christine

See also

• Weihnachtsmann