Twelfth Day

American  

noun

1. the 12th day after Christmas, January 6, on which the festival of the Epiphany is celebrated: formerly observed as the last day of the Christmas festivities.

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Twelfth Day British  

noun

1. 1. Jan 6, the twelfth day after Christmas and the feast of the Epiphany, formerly observed as the final day of the Christmas celebrations

   2. ( as modifier )

      Twelfth-Day celebrations

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Etymology

Origin of Twelfth Day

before 900; Middle English; Old English

Example Sentences

"On the Twelfth Day of Christmas" my true love gave to me a new TV movie starring Robin Dunne and Brooke Nevin.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2015

A pleasant, 22-minute short, the Twelfth Day will get a nationwide network audience on New Year's Day as a color Spectacular over NBCTV.

From Time Magazine Archive

In England we call the Epiphany Twelfth Day, in Germany it is generally called Thirteenth; in Belgium and Holland it is Thirteenth; in Sweden it varies, but is usually Thirteenth.

From Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan by Miles, Clement A.

Yet some said that Twelfth Day cut her out, for she came in a silk suit, white and gold, like a queen on a frost-cake, all royal and glittering.

From Eighth Reader by Baldwin, James

This being Twelfth Day, his Majesty, the Prince of Wales, and the Knights Companions of the Garter, Thistle, and Bath, appeared in the collars of their respective orders.

From Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges by Saintsbury, George