lillejulafton

Swedish

Etymology

From lille- (“little”) +‎ julafton (“Christmas Eve”). Compare Danish lillejuleaften.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪlɛjʉ̟ːlˌaftɔn/, /ˌlɪlɛjʉ̟ːlˈaftɔn/

Noun

lillejulafton c

1. (dialectal, Southern) the day before Christmas Eve
   • 2018, Emma Leijnse, “Ny prognos: Drömmen lever om en vit jul i Skåne [New prognosis: The dream of a white Christmas is alive in Scania]”, in Sydsvenskan‎^[1]:

     Vit lillejulafton i västra Skåne, och chans att snön ligger kvar även på julafton.

     A white day before Christmas Eve, and a chance that the snow stays also on Christmas Eve.

Declension

Declension of lillejulafton
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	lillejulafton	lillejulaftonen	lillejulaftnar	lillejulaftnarna
Genitive	lillejulaftons	lillejulaftonens	lillejulaftnars	lillejulaftnarnas

Synonyms

• dagen före dopparedagen
• dan före dopparedan
• lilla julafton (dialectal)
• lillejul (dialectal)

References

• Lillejul, lilla jul och lilla julafton. Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore. 1 December 2015.