Christmas or Christmas Day (Old English: Cr
9;stesmæsse, literally "Christ's mass") is an annual commemora
tion of the birth of Jesus Christ,[5]
[
6] celebrated generally on December 25[2][3]<
/a>[4
] as a religious and cultural
holiday
by billions of people around the world. A feast
central to the Christian liturgical year, it closes the Advent season
and initiates the twelve days of Christmastide.
[7] Christmas is a civil holiday in many of the world's nations,[8][9]
The precise year of Jesus' birth, which some historians place between 7 and 2
BC, is unknown.[13][14
] By the early-to-mid 4th century, Western C
hristianity had placed Christmas on December 25, a date later adopted i
n the East.[15][16] The date of Christm
as may have initially been chosen to correspond with the day exactly nine m
onths after the Annunciation, the date Christians believe Jesus to have b
een conceived,[17] as well as the date of the s
outhern solstice, i.e., the Roman winter solstice), with
a sun connection being possible because Christians consider Jesus to be the
"Sun of righteousness" prophesied in Malachi 4:2.[17][18]<
/sup>[19][20]