Language/Serbian/Vocabulary/Christmas

Vocabulary - Christmas in Serbian

Welcome to our Serbian Vocabulary lesson focused on Christmas! 🎄 In this lesson, we will explore various words and phrases related to the festive season in the Serbian language. After mastering this holiday vocabulary, you might also be interested in expanding your knowledge in other areas. Check out our lessons on Serbian Entertainment and Media, where you can learn about movies and theater, or dive into the colorful world of Serbian colors. If you're passionate about geography, don't miss our Serbian Geography Vocabulary lesson. Enjoy your learning journey and have a Merry Christmas! 🎅

Christmas Culture in Serbia

In Serbia, Christmas Eve is on the 6th January and Christmas Day is on the 7th of January, because most of Serbians are Orthodox Christians and we follow Julian calendar.

Christmas is a religious holiday and most people go to the Christmas services at the churches.

On Christmas Eve (badnji dan / бадњи дан) many people fast.

On Christmas Day the first person to enter a house is called a položajnik / положајник and its thought to bring luck to the house and family. The položajnik is often re-arranged. On Christmas we eat a special kind of bread. Its called česnica / чесница. Each member of the family gets a piece of česnica. There is a coin hidden in it and whoever gets the coin will be lucky for the rest of the year.

Other popular Christmas dishes include pečenica (roast pork), sarma (cabbage stuffed with rice and ground meat) , prebranac (a layered bean and onion dish) and lots of cakes.

Gift giving at Christmas is not a Serbian tradition, instead, gifts are given few days before on New Year or during New Years evening.Traditional Serbian customs have also mixed with western customs. For example people also have Christmas Trees but they are decorated on New Years Eve, not on Christmas.On Christmas we have Christmas eve tree called badnjak / бадњак.

One is to greet another person with "Peace of God! Christ is Born" which should be responded to with "Truly He is Born," or in Serbian:

• Mir Božji. Hristos se rodi – Vaistinu se rodi / Мир Божји. Христос се роди - Ваистину се роди.

Christmas vocabulary

• Badnji dan / Бадњи дан - Christmas Eve before the sunset.
• Badnje veče / Бадње вече - Christmas Eve after the sunset
• Božić / Божић - Christmas
• Srećan Božić! / Срећан Божић! - Merry Christmas
• badnjak / бадњак - a young oak tree
• badnjičar / бадњичар - the man who cuts and takes the badnjak into house on Christmas Eve
• badnjački kolač / бадњачки колач - a loaf necessary for Christmas Eve dinner
• česnica / чесница - a Christmas loaf
• koleda / коледа - a Christmas custom
• položajnik / положајник - The first visitor to one's home on Christmas Day.
• pečenica / печеница - a whole pig roasted for Christmas dinner
• pletenica / плетеница - kind of Cristmas loaf
• kupusnik / купусник - the cabbage pie
• šljivovica / шљивовица - slivovitz - plum brandy
• vruća rakija / врућа ракија - hot brandy

Phrases

• Mir Božji. Hristos se rodi –Vaistinu se rodi / Мир Божји. Христос се роди - Ваистину се роди - Peace of God! Christ is Born! - Truly He is Born
• Da li postite na Badnji dan? / Да ли постите на Бадњи дан? - Аre you fasting on Christmas Eve?
• Da li slavite Božić na tradicionalan način? / Да ли славите Божић на традиционалан начин? - Do you celebrate Christmas in a traditional way?
• Šta jedeš / jedete za Božić?/ Шта једеш/једете за Божић? - What do you eat on Christmas Day?
• Šta ćeš raditi za Božić? / Шта ћеш радити за Божић - What will you do on Christmas day?
• Da li posećujete rođake tokom Božićnih praznika? / Да ли посећујете рођаке током Божићних празника? - Do you visit your relatives during Christmas holidays?

Other Lessons

• Adjectives in Serbian
• Greetings
• Fruits
• People in Serbian
• Sports
• Flowers
• Colors
• Feelings and Emotions
• Weather
• Animal