Yule的词源

英文词源

Yule

Yule: [OE] Old English gēol, the ancestor of modern English Yule, was originally the name of a pre-Christian mid-winter festival, but it later came to be applied to ‘Christmas’. It was related to Old Norse jól ‘mid-winter festival’ (possible source of English jolly), but where it ultimately came from is not known. It has been speculated that it may be descended from the Indo- European base *qwelo- ‘go round’ (source of English cycle and wheel), in which case it would denote etymologically the ‘turn’ of the year.

yule (n.)

Old English geol, geola "Christmas Day, Christmastide," from Old Norse jol (plural), a heathen feast, later taken over by Christianity, of unknown origin.

The Old English (Anglian) cognate giuli was the Anglo-Saxons' name for a two-month midwinter season corresponding to Roman December and January, a time of important feasts but not itself a festival. After conversion to Christianity it narrowed to mean "the 12-day feast of the Nativity" (which began Dec. 25), but was replaced by Christmas by 11c., except in the northeast (areas of Danish settlement), where it remained the usual word.

Revived 19c. by writers to mean "the Christmas of 'Merrie England.' " First direct reference to the Yule log is 17c. Old Norse jol seems to have been borrowed in Old French as jolif, hence Modern French joli "pretty, nice," originally "festive" (see jolly).

中文词源

Yule：圣诞节

来自古诺斯语jol,节日，后用于指圣诞节。参照其形容词jolly,节日的，高兴的。

该词的英语词源请访问找单词词源英文版：Yule 词源，Yule 含义。

Yule：圣诞节；圣诞节期

Yule亦作yule，在古英语中词形为gēol，很可能源自古斯堪的纳维亚语(Old Norse) jōl，原意是“仲冬节期”（mid-winter feast），在基督诞生之前指古时冬至时节的民俗节庆，为期12天。基督教传入英国之后，Yule转指“圣诞节”或“圣诞节期”。在圣诞前夜放入炉中燃烧的大原木叫做yule log，圣诞节期亦称Yuletide。

但到了19世纪中期之后这种焚烧大原木的风俗逐渐被在家中摆放圣诞树的习俗所取代。据传，圣诞树起源于德国。1841年德国王子艾伯特（Albert）与英国维多利亚女王结婚时，在温莎城堡布置了英国第一棵圣诞树，从此摆圣诞树的习俗便传入英国。Yule一词现已不多用，只用作文学词语。英语另有一词jolly（愉快的）和Yule有亲缘关系，也源于古斯堪的纳维亚语jōl。（参见Christmas，Xmas）