( BrE ) (also ˈSanta Claus NAmE , BrE ) noun
an imaginary old man with red clothes and a long white beard. Parents tell small children that he brings them presents at Christmas.
For more information see the Cultural Guide
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WORD ORIGIN
of obscure origin. His conventionalized image is comparatively recent; in late medieval Europe he became identified with St Nicholas (Santa Claus); in England Father Christmas was a personification of Christmas, a genial red-robed old man who appeared in many 16th-cent. masques and in mummers' plays. There was a great revival of the celebration of Christmas in the 19th cent. and Father Christmas acquired (from St Nicholas) the association of present-bringing.