Michaelmas term

Meaning

1. The first term of the legal year, running from October to December, during which the upper courts of England and Wales, and Ireland, sit to hear cases.
2. The first academic term of the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, and other educational institutions, running from October to December; the term was modelled after the legal term, but does not begin and end on the same dates.

Synonyms

term

terminology

language

Translations

terme

Wort

mot

terme

vocabolo

vocàbolo

vakterm

palavra

vocábulo

Hyphenated as

Mi‧chael‧mas

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈmɪk(ə)lməs ˌtɜːm/

Etymology

From Michaelmas + term; Michaelmas is from Michael (“the name of the biblical archangel”) + -mas (suffix indicating a holiday or sacred day), meaning the feast day of St Michael. Michael is derived from Late Latin Michahel, from Koine Greek Μιχαήλ (Mikhaḗl), from Biblical Hebrew מִיכָאֵל (mîḵāʾēl, “who is like God?”); while -mas is from mass, from Middle English masse, from Old English mæsse (“mass (celebration of the Eucharist)”), from Vulgar Latin *messa (“Eucharist; dismissal”), from Late Latin missa, a noun use of the feminine past participle of Latin mittere, the present active infinitive of mittō (“to dispatch, send; to discharge, release; to dismiss”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meytH- (“to exchange”). The Christian feast day of Michaelmas, 29 September, occurs a few days before the start of this term.