Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • The largest of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean near the equator. Discovered by James Cook on Christmas Eve, 1777, the island is now part of Kiribati.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun An island of Kiribati, previously called Christmas Island.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Gilbertese word Kirimati ("Christmas"), from English Christmas.

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Examples

  • One is Australian, in the Indian Ocean; the other is known as Kiritimati, part of Kiribati, in the central Pacific.

    Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage PAUL R. MARTIN 2002

  • One is Australian, in the Indian Ocean; the other is known as Kiritimati, part of Kiribati, in the central Pacific.

    Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage PAUL R. MARTIN 2002

  • Subsequent tests took place at Maralinga, a desert region of mainland South Australia, and Christmas Island, also known as Kiritimati, a remote Pacific atoll.

    The Guardian World News 2009

  • Many islands, such as Kiritimati (Christmas), have feral cat populations that have extirpated ground-nesting seabirds from areas they can reach.

    Central Polynesian tropical moist forests 2007

  • While sitting on the roof of a skiff, crossing the Lagoon of Christmas Island (Kiritimati), this brown booby decided to visit with me long enough to get this shot.

    Field & Stream 2009

  • The equator lies just south of Kiritimati Christmas Island, the largest island of the Line group, so I would round one of the islands in the Line group that is north of the equator before heading back south.

    True Spirit Jessica Watson 2010

  • It includes 8 of the 11 Line Islands, including Kiritimati (formerly Christmas Island), as well as the Gilbert and Phoenix groups and Banaba (formerly Ocean Island).

    Kiribati The World Factbook 2008

  • Kiribatigeneral assessment: generally good quality national and international service domestic: wire line service available on Tarawa and Kiritimati (Christmas Island); connections to outer islands by HF/VHF radiotelephone; wireless service available in Tarawa since 1999 international: country code - 686; Kiribati is being linked to the Pacific Ocean Cooperative Telecommunications Network, which should improve telephone service; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)

    Telephone system 2008

  • Telephone system: general assessment: generally good quality national and international service domestic: wire line service available on Tarawa and Kiritimati (Christmas Island); connections to outer islands by HF/VHF radiotelephone; wireless service available in Tarawa since 1999 international: country code - 686; Kiribati is being linked to the Pacific Ocean Cooperative Telecommunications Network, which should improve telephone service; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)

    Kiribati 2008

  • There are few endemic plant species on central Polynesian islands and the only passerine bird is the endemic bokikokiko (Acrocephalus aequinoctialis), a small reed-warbler found on Teraina, Tabueran, and Kiritimati.

    Central Polynesian tropical moist forests 2007

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