Meanings
yule1
- rareuncountableAlternative letter-case form of Yule.
Yule2
plural Yules
- Christmastide, the Christmas season, the Twelve Days of Christmas (between December 25ᵗʰ and January 5ᵗʰ).
- A pagan wintertime holiday celebrated by Germanic peoples, particularly the Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon peoples, or a modern reconstruction of this holiday celebrated by neo-pagans.
- A surname.
- obsoleteA proclamation of joy at Christmas.
In the Countrey churches, at Christmas in the Holy-daies after Prayers, they will dance in the Church, and as they doe dance, they cry (or sing) Yole, Yole, Yole etc.
1687, John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, page 5
Synonyms & antonyms
nounperiod extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*jehwlą
- Old Englishġeōl“Christmas, Yule”
- Middle Englishyol
- EnglishYule
From Middle English yol, youle, from Old English ġeōl (“Christmas, Yule”), either cognate with or from Old Norse jól, from Proto-Germanic *jehwlą. Cognate with Gothic 𐌾𐌹𐌿𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍃 (jiuleis); see also Old English ġēola and Old Norse ýlir.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Joelfees
- Joelfeesthe Christmas season
Bulgarian Коледа
- Коледа (Koleda)the Christmas season
Chinese Mandarin 尤爾 /尤尔
- 尤爾 /尤尔 (Yóu'ěr)a surname
Danish jul, jul
- julthe Christmas season
- jula pagan wintertime holiday
- julefesta pagan wintertime holiday
- Juela surname
Dutch Joelfeest
- Joelfeestthe Christmas season
Esperanto Julo
- Julothe Christmas season
Estonian jõulud
- jõuludthe Christmas season
Finnish joulu
- jouluthe Christmas season
French fêtes
- fêtesthe Christmas season
German Julfest, Jul
- Julfestthe Christmas season
- Julthe Christmas season
- Julfesta pagan wintertime holiday
- Jula pagan wintertime holiday
Greek Χριστούγεννα
- Χριστούγεννα (Christoúgenna)the Christmas season
Icelandic jól
- jólthe Christmas season
Norwegian Bokmål jul
- julthe Christmas season
Polish Jul, Jul
- Julthe Christmas season
- Jula pagan wintertime holiday
- Jula surname
Romanian Crăciun
- Crăciunthe Christmas season
Russian Йоль, Йоль
- Йоль (Jolʹ)the Christmas season
- Йоль (Jolʹ)a pagan wintertime holiday
Spanish Navidad
- Navidadthe Christmas season
Swedish jul
- julthe Christmas season
Turkish yul bayramı, bocuk
- yul bayramıthe Christmas season
- bocukthe Christmas season
Ukrainian Юль, Юль
- Юль (Julʹ)the Christmas season
- Юль (Julʹ)a pagan wintertime holiday
Yiddish יולע
- יולע (yule)the Christmas season
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with yule
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
yule. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yule
“yule.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yule. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yule,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yule.
Source: yule on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.