Christingle

Meaning

Noun

• A small Christmas gift for children symbolizing Jesus Christ as the “light” of the world. A typical modern Christingle is made of an orange with sweets skewered into it, a candle inserted into the top and a red ribbon wrapped round it.
• A church service for children incorporating Christingles, usually held during Advent.

Origin

• Origin uncertain; according to the Oxford English Dictionary, possibly from dialectal German Christkindl, Christkindle, from Christ + Kindl, Kindle (dialectal diminutive of Kind). The -ingle portion of the word may be a corruption of Kris Kringle (also derived from German Christkindl, Christ Kinde) among the German community in the United States.