English

Noun

Yuletide ‎(plural Yuletides)

1. (dated) The period of celebration of a pre-Christian festival associated with the (northern) winter solstice, later absorbed into the festival of Christmas.
   • 1902, Henry van Dyke, The First Christmas-Tree, in The Blue Flower,

     For this is the Yuletide, and the heathen people of the forest are gathered at the thunder-oak of Geismar to worship their god, Thor.

   • 1925 January, H. P. Lovecraft, The Festival, in Weird Tales, Volume 5, Number 1,

     It was the Yuletide, that men call Christmas though they know in their hearts it is older than Bethlehem and Babylon, older than Memphis and mankind. It was the Yuletide, and I had come at last to the ancient sea town where my people had dwelt and kept festival in the elder time when festival was forbidden; where also they had commanded their sons to keep festival once every century, that the memory of primal secrets might not be forgotten.

2. (dated) Christmas season, the period around Christmas, Christmastime.
   • 1881, lyricist unknown, "Deck the Halls" (song)

     Troll we now our Yuletide carol. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

   • a. 1923, James Joyce, Ulysses, Episode 17: Ithaca,

     […] a Yuletide card, bearing on it a pictorial representation of a parasitic plant, the legend Mizpah, the date Xmas 1892, the name of the senders: from Mr + Mrs M. Comerford, the versicle: May this Yuletide bring to thee, Joy and peace and welcome glee: […]

3. (Australia, regional) The period of southern winter, sometimes celebrated in the colder, snowy regions of Australia with allusions to Christmas and snow, originally a marketing gimmick.
   • 2011, Lee Mylne, Marc Llewellyn, Ron Crittall, Lee Atkinson, Frommer's Australia 2011,

     Note that the colder winter months(June—Aug) are the busiest season. This period is known as Yuletide—the locals' version of the Christmas period, when most places offer traditional Christmas dinners and roaring log fires.

Related terms

• Christmas

English

Noun

yuletide ‎(countable and uncountable, plural yuletides)

Camellia sasanqua

1. Alternative spelling of Yuletide Christmas or the Christmas season.
2. A common name for the flower Camellia sasanqua native to Japan and nearby islands.

Synonyms

• (Christmas season): Christmastide
• (Camellia sasanqua): sasanqua

Translations