christingle
/ˈkɹɪstɪŋɡ(ə)l/
christingle means A small Christmas gift for children symbolizing Jesus Christ as the “light” of the world. A typical modern Christingle is made of an orange with sweets skewered into it, a candle inserted into the top, and a red ribbon wrapped round it. It carries an Arena rating of 1404, earned across 42 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, christingle ranks #170 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #2,126 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #2,259 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #2,355 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
christingle is pronounced /ˈkɹɪstɪŋɡ(ə)l/.
Why “christingle” is a great word
CHRISTINGLE — [Noun] A symbolic object, typically an orange decorated with a candle, sweets, and a red ribbon, representing Jesus Christ as the light of the world, or a church service for children during Advent where such objects are distributed. Its name’s origin is uncertain; likely a corruption of the German dialectal term Christkindl (from Christ, "Christ" + Kindl, diminutive of Kind, "child"), referring to the Christ child or gifts brought by him, with possible influence from the Americanized Kris Kringle. Unlike an "advent wreath," which marks liturgical time with fixed candles on foliage, or a "nativity scene," which presents a static tableau for observation, the Christingle is a handheld, edible theology. It is the waxy scent of a lit candle pushed into bitter peel, the sticky promise of sweets on toothpicks, the scratch of a red ribbon signifying blood—a fleeting, combustible ceremony where doctrine is made graspable, sweet, and perilously fragile, a small world of suffering and sweetness cradled in a child's palm before the flame gutters out.
Etymology
Uncertain; according to the Oxford English Dictionary, possibly from dialectal German Christkindl, Christkindle (“the Christ child, believed to deliver presents to children on Christmas Eve; the presents so brought”), from Christ (“Christ”) + Kindl, Kindle (dialectal diminutive of Kind (“child”)). The -ingle portion of the word may be a corruption of Kris Kringle (“Santa Claus”) (also derived from German Christkindl, Christ Kinde) among the German community in the United States.
noun
- A small Christmas gift for children symbolizing Jesus Christ as the “light” of the world. A typical modern Christingle is made of an orange with sweets skewered into it, a candle inserted into the top, and a red ribbon wrapped round it.
- A church service for children incorporating Christingles, usually held during Advent.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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