መልካም ገና
mälkam gäna
Merry Christmas in Amharic is መልካም ገና (mälkam gäna).
The phrase is used to offer good wishes during the Christmas season.
Meaning: good wishes at Christmas time (phrase)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of መልካም (mälkam) meaning 'good' and ገና (gäna) meaning 'Christmas'.
How do you pronounce it?
mälkam gäna
Did you know?
- While the word ገና is used for Christmas, many Ethiopians celebrate the holiday on January 7th instead of December 25th due to the use of the Ethiopian calendar.
- The word ገና is derived from the Ancient Greek word γέννα, meaning 'birth'.
- The phrase መልካም ገና is often accompanied by the wearing of 'shamma', a traditional white hand-woven cotton cloth.
Examples in context
- መልካም ገና!melkam gena!Merry Christmas!
- ለአንተ መልካም ገና ይሁን።le'ante melkam gena yihun.Have a merry Christmas (to a male).
- ለሁላችሁም መልካም ገና እመኛለሁ።lehulachihum melkam gena imegnalehu.I wish you all a merry Christmas.
Example conversation
Two friends meet on the street during the holiday season.
- ኤልያስ Eliasሰላም ኤልሳቤጥ፣ መልካም ገና!Selam Elsabét, melkam gena!Hi Elsabét, merry Christmas!
- ኤልሳቤጥ Elsabethአመሰግናለሁ ኤልያስ፣ ላንተም መልካም ገና!Ameseginalehu Elias, lante-m melkam gena!Thank you Elias, merry Christmas to you too!
- ኤልያስ Eliasቤተሰቦችህ እንዴት ናቸው?Betesebochih indet nachew?How is your family?
- ኤልሳቤጥ Elsabethሁሉ ደህና ናቸው፣ አመሰግናለሁ።Hullu dehna nachew, ameseginalehu.They are all fine, thank you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “merry Christmas” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ገና, CC BY-SA 4.0.
