CRACIUN

CRACIUN. – Name for Christmas in Romanian, undoubtedly of Romance origin, although this has not yet been established (Cristo+ajun, “fast” or “vigil”?). The term penetrated 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 wealthy and miserly host of Betlenme who lent his stable for the birth of Jesus and whose daughter was healed. Federico Tulliez