Childermas
noun
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Childermas
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childermas
childermasnounHoly Innocents Day, Dec 28
Childermas
American
[chil-der-muhs]
/ ˈtʃɪl dər məs /
noun
Chiefly British.
childermas
British
/ ˈtʃɪldəˌmæs /
noun
Etymology
Origin of Childermas
before 1000; Middle English chyldermasse, equivalent to Old English cildra (genitive plural of cild child ) + mæsse Mass
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Childermas, a festival to commemorate the massacre of the children by Herod.
From The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by Nuttall, P. Austin
These Childermas festivities took place in monastic as well as in secular churches, but they seem to have been more common in nunneries than in male communities.
From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Power, Eileen
To marry on Childermas Day was specially inauspicious.
From A Righte Merrie Christmasse The Story of Christ-Tide by Behrend, Arthur C.
If it be lowering or wet on Childermas or Innocence Day, it threatens scarcity and mortality among the weaker sort of young people; but if the day be very fair, it promiseth plenty.
From Notes and Queries, Number 231, April 1, 1854 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Bell, George
From other authorities it appears that the day of the week on which Childermas occurred was regarded as unfortunate throughout the year.
From The Boke of Noblesse by Unknown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
