The First Noel
Not the song...
Saturdays are perfect days for holiday surprises. Surprise—we’re talking about the origin of the word Noel today!
During the December holiday season, we all hear the word Noel bandied about, perhaps in the beloved Cornish carol, The First Noel, or maybe everywhere French is spoken—“Joyeux Noël” in French means Merry Christmas. But what is a Noel exactly?
Noel [noh-el] is basically another word for Christmas, one that conjures the remembrance of a famous birth. The word derives from the Latin phrase nātālis diēs meaning birthday.
NAT- is a common root meaning birth or born in words like innate, nativity, and neonatal.
innate (adj) - existing from birth; inherent; inborn
BREAKDOWN: IN- (in) + NAT- (born)
nativity (noun) - a birth or origin, particularly the circumstances and environment around it
BREAKDOWN: NAT- (birth) + -IVE (state of) + -ITY (quality)
-- the Nativity refers to the birth of Jesus Christ as commemorated during Christmas
neonatal (noun) - of or pertaining to the period of time immediately following birth
BREAKDOWN: NEO- (new) + NAT- (birth) + -AL (pertaining to)
-- a neonate is a newborn child
-- natal means of or relating to birth
Joyeux Noël!
Noel and its cultural cognates (including Christmas and even Easter) is an extra powerful word set owing to the tendency for people to name things, directly or indirectly, after the holiday on which a discovery is made, often during the 16th through 18th century seafaring and discovery days. These include Natalo and Natal in Africa; the South American places called Natal in Brazil and Bolivia (8 localities); Natalia Cuba; Natalau Fuji; Natal, British Columbia (named after Natal and South Africa). Related: Christmas Island, Christmas related names in Australia (at least three) and elsewhere. Worth mentioning: Easter Island. Several localities (including Easter Island) won’t be found in modern gazetteers since their names have been changed back to indigenous terms. In Montana, there is a ghost town known as “New Year,” an old mining town.