Twelfth Day

American  

noun

1. the 12th day after Christmas, January 6, on which the festival of the Epiphany is celebrated: formerly observed as the last day of the Christmas festivities.

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Twelfth Day British  

noun

1. 1. Jan 6, the twelfth day after Christmas and the feast of the Epiphany, formerly observed as the final day of the Christmas celebrations

   2. ( as modifier )

      Twelfth-Day celebrations

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Etymology

Origin of Twelfth Day

before 900; Middle English; Old English

Example Sentences

"On the Twelfth Day of Christmas" my true love gave to me a new TV movie starring Robin Dunne and Brooke Nevin.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2015

A pleasant, 22-minute short, the Twelfth Day will get a nationwide network audience on New Year's Day as a color Spectacular over NBCTV.

From Time Magazine Archive

Twelfth Day, anciently so called as being the twelfth after Christmas, is the day whereon the Church has always kept the feast of "The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles."

From Shakespeare: His Life, Art, And Characters, Volume I. With An Historical Sketch Of The Origin And Growth Of The Drama In England by Hudson, Henry Norman

John Chamberlain writes to Sir Dudley Carleton on January 5, 1608: "The masque goes forward at Court for Twelfth Day, tho' I doubt the New Room will be scant ready."

From Shakespearean Playhouses A History of English Theatres from the Beginnings to the Restoration by Adams, Joseph Quincy

In January began the round, for from Christmas Eve to Twelfth Day was the proper time for “worsling,” that is “wassailing” the orchards, but more particularly the apple-trees.

From The Brighton Road The Classic Highway to the South by Harper, Charles G. (Charles George)