Saint Nicholas

English

Alternative forms

• St. Nicholas

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Proper noun

Saint Nicholas

1. (Christianity) A 4th-century Greek bishop from Myra, Anatolia, patron saint of children, mariners and the unwed among others, functioning in multiple countries as a gift-giving figure around his feast day of December 6.
2. Santa Claus; a figure derived from traditions surrounding the historical Saint Nicholas who is said to bring Christmas presents to children on Christmas Day.

   Synonyms: Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Santa Claus, Saint Nick

   • 2004, “Good Friday”, in La maison de mon rêve, performed by Cocorosie:

     No more passion play / On St. Nicholas avenue / I believe in St. Nicholas / It's a different type of Santa Claus

Translations

4th-century Greek bishop, patron of children and mariners

• Albanian: Shën Nikolla, Shën Kolli
• Arabic: القِدِّيس نِقُولَا m (al-qiddīs niqūlā)
• Armenian: Սուրբ Նիկողայոս (Surb Nikoġayos)
• Basque: San Nikolas
• Belarusian: Мікалай Цудатворац m (Mikalaj Cudatvórac)
• Bulgarian: Свети Николай m (Sveti Nikolaj)
• Catalan: Sant Nicolau m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 聖尼古拉／圣尼古拉 (Shèng Nígǔlā)

• Czech: Svatý Mikuláš m
• Danish: Sankt Nikolaus
• Dutch: Sint-Nicolaas (nl) m
• Esperanto: Sankta Nikolao
• Estonian: Püha Nikolaus, Püha Nikolai
• Finnish: Pyhä Nikolaus
• French: saint Nicolas m
• Galician: San Nicolau m
• Georgian: წმიდა ნიკოლოზ (c̣mida niḳoloz)
• German: der heilige Nikolaus m, Sankt Nikolaus, St. Nikolaus
• Greek: Άγιος Νικόλαος (el) m (Ágios Nikólaos)
• Hebrew: ניקולאוס הקדוש m (nikulaus ha-kidush)
• Hungarian: Szent Miklós
• Icelandic: Heilagur Nikolas m
• Irish: Naomh Nioclás m, San Nioclás m
• Italian: San Niccolò m
• Japanese: 聖ニコラオ (Sei Nikorao)
• Korean: 성 니콜라우스 (seong nikollauseu)
• Latin: Sanctus Nicolaus m
• Latvian: Svētais Nikolajs m
• Lithuanian: Šventasis Mikalojus m
• Macedonian: Свети Никола m (Sveti Nikola)
• Maltese: San Nikola m
• Manx: Noo Niglus m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Sankt Nikolas m

  Nynorsk: den heilage Nikolas m

• Polish: Święty Mikołaj (pl) m
• Portuguese: São Nicolau (pt) m
• Romanian: Sfântul Nicolae m
• Russian: Свято́й Никола́й m (Svjatój Nikoláj), Никола́й Чудотво́рец m (Nikoláj Čudotvórec)
• Scottish Gaelic: Naomh Nicol m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Свети Никола m

  Roman: Sveti Nikola m

• Sicilian: Santa Nicola m
• Slovak: Svätý Mikuláš m
• Slovene: Sveti Nikolaj m
• Spanish: San Nicolás (es) m
• Swedish: Sankt Nikolaus
• Tamil: புனித நிக்கலஸ் (puṉita nikkalas)
• Ukrainian: Мико́ла Чудотво́рець m (Mykóla Čudotvórecʹ), Святи́й Микола́й m (Svjatýj Mykoláj)
• Welsh: Sant Nicolas m

Santa Claus — see Santa Claus

See also

• Black Peter (“companion of Saint Nicholas”)

Further reading

• “Saint Nicholas”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “Saint Nicholas”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• “Saint Nicholas”, in Collins English Dictionary.