Giftmas

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Giftmas (literally, Mass of Gift), also known as Givemas, is a term sometimes used as an alternative to the word Christmas, recognizing only the secular aspects of the holiday rather than religious celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The current use of this term seems confined mostly to non-Christians who nevertheless wish to celebrate on December 25 with non-religious traditions such as gift-giving, decorating a tree, turkey dinners, and the like. However, the word may also be used by Christians who wish to dissociate the highly commercialized secular holiday from the religious holiday of Christmas, even if they continue to celebrate both. The "mas" segment of the word is not entirely secular as it ultimately takes its roots in the liturgical phrase Ite, missa est meaning "Go, it is the sending" or "You may go, this is the dismissal", though a "mass" can also mean a large number of people or objects gathered together.

Note that pagan and secular celebrations of the December Solstice are sometimes held on, or extend into, the 25th, which was the day of the solstice during the later days of the Roman Empire under the Julian Calendar and still falls only two to four days after. The 8-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah often occurs during roughly the same time and has its own gift-giving tradition.

Giftmas

See also