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Xmas is an abbreviation for Christmas. It is derived from the word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, transliterated as Christos, which is Greek for Christ. Greek is the language in which the whole New Testament was written.
Originally, Xmas was an abbreviation where the X represents the Greek letter <math>\chi<math> (see chi. It is pronounced with a hard ch), which is the first letter of Christ's name in Greek. However, because of the modern interpretations of the letter X, many people are unaware of this and assume that this abbreviation is meant to drop Christ from Christmas. The occasionally seen belief that the X represents the cross Christ was crucified on has no basis in fact; St Andrew's Cross is X-shaped, but Christ's cross was probably shaped like a T or a + sign with long lower foot. Indeed, X-as-chi was associated with Christ long before X-as-cross could be. The use of X as an abbreviation for cross in modern parlance may have reinforced this assumption.
In ancient Christian art <math>\chi<math> and <math>\chi\rho<math> (Chi Ro--the first two letters in Greek of Christos) abbreviate Christ's name. In many manuscripts of the New Testament, X abbreviates Christos (Xristos). The Oxford English Dictionary documents the use of this abbreviation back to 1551, fifty years before the first English colonists came to America and sixty years earlier than the completion of the King James Version of the Bible. At the same time, Xian and Xianity were in frequent use as abbreviations of Christian and Christianity.
The abbreviation is widely but not universally accepted; some view it as demeaning to Christ. Similarly, Xianity is sometimes used as the abbreviation for Christianity (although this usage is much less common than "Xmas").
In the animated television show Futurama, which is set in the 31st century, Xmas is the official name for the day formerly known as Christmas.
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