Crăciun

Etymology
The etymology has been highly disputed, it is unclear whether the word is of Latin or of Slavic origin.

Many scholars propose one of several possible Latin derivations, either from , or from (accusative of, with the meaning derived from that of the creation or birth of a child, e.g. Jesus' birth on Christmas. Compare the archaic meaning of 🇨🇬, of the same origin (see  and ); compare also 🇨🇬 and 🇨🇬. The Romanian word had an older, archaic meaning of “birth” in church or religious usage, and is also used for the holy image of Christ's birth. Other less frequently endorsed Latin etymologies  include: followed by an uncertain second root, such as ; compare 🇨🇬, from , or  , . See also the Romanian suffix.

However, beside 🇨🇬, there is a clearly related Slavic word, dialectal Bulgarian and Macedonian, and 🇨🇬, also passed into 🇨🇬. A genuine Slavic etymology would be, indicating that the Romanian word is a  loan. However, since the word is mostly found in South Slavic (Balkan) languages or in ones that have had contact with Romanian (such as Ruthenian), there is the possibility it was absorbed from proto-Romanian speakers instead. Another, somewhat unlikely, proposition is that it is a paleo-Balkan substratum term related to Albanian, stemming from the pre-Christian tradition of placing branches at houses on the winter solstice or on the Roman festival of Sol Invictus, which took place on the date that later became Christmas (cf. also Italian ).

Proper noun

 * 1) Christmas