CRĂCIUN. — Name for Christmas in Romanian, of undoubtedly Romance origin, although not yet definitively established (Cristo + ajun, “fasting” or “vigil”?). The term spread more or less into all the surrounding languages and even into Old Russian, but especially into Hungarian (Karácsony). In Romanian folklore, the “Old C.” is that rich and miserly host of Bethlehem who lent his stable for the birth of Jesus and whose daughter was healed.
CRÀCIUN
