Kriss Kringle

[ kris kring-guhl ]

noun

1. Santa Claus.

Kriss Kringle

/ ˌkrɪs ˈkrɪŋɡəl /

noun

1. another name for Santa Claus

Word History and Origins

Origin of Kriss Kringle¹

Alteration, by folk etymology, of German Christkindl little Christ child, equivalent to Christ Christ + kind child + -l diminutive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of Kriss Kringle¹

changed from German Christkindl little Christ child, from Christ + Kindl, from Kind child

Example Sentences

NORAD’s Santa Tracker, which is displayed on TV news channels throughout Christmas Eve, will show children and families the location of Kriss Kringle in real-time, including when he is in the Inland Northwest.

From Seattle Times

This Kriss Kringle drinks to forget, and we share his lament for a hopelessly cynical world.

From Washington Post

Lorang is hardly the only Santa to have scaled back or stepped away entirely from the Kriss Kringle business as the pandemic enters its second Christmas.

From Seattle Times

After Dickens, Chesterton — the apostle of tradition, paradox and joie de vivre — seems the most Christmas-y of writers, and yet he’s far more than a literary Kriss Kringle.

From Washington Post

On Dec. 13, as reported in The Seattle Times, student protesters gathered beneath the colossal Kriss Kringle to distribute leaflets to weekend Christmas shoppers while singing carols rewritten for the occasion.

From Seattle Times