Noel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Look up noel, noël, or nowell in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
For other uses, see Noel (disambiguation).
Noel (also spelled Nowell or Noël) (nəʊˈɛl) is an alternative word for Christmas. It first entered the English language in the 14th century. The word comes from Middle English noel, which derives from the Old French word noël and its more common form naël. The English spelling "Noël" is taken directly from modern French, which also derives from the Old French. The ultimate Latin origin is the phrase nātālis (diēs), "(day) of birth".[1] The word is well known from the Christmas song The First Nowell.
