Christmas tree decorations in French

Along with Father Christmas and his reindeer, Christmas trees are one of the most recognisable symbols of the festive season. During December, they’re a feature in households from Britain and Mexico to Australia and Japan - and France is no exception.

Christmas trees are believed to have originated in Alsace (modern-day France, but then a territory of the Holy Roman Empire) around 500 years ago. However, it would be a long time before they became a universal tradition. The first Christmas tree in France was introduced by Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, wife of Prince Ferdinand Philippe, who brought the custom over from Germany in the mid-19th century. It did not become truly popular, however, until the onset of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, when refugees from Prussia and Alsace fled west, bringing their festive customs with them.

The French developed their own tradition when it came to the Christmas tree, maintaining the roots and tending to decorate the tree with edible items such as nuts, dried fruits and gingerbread. Glass baubles are said to have become popular when a drought afflicted the region around northern Vosges in 1858 - prompting local glassblowers to craft beautiful, if inedible, replacements.

Nowadays, French Christmas trees, and the customs surrounding them, are more akin to the kind you find in America and the rest of Europe. A typical French Christmas tree may not look so different from the one in your living room. But the words they use to describe it, and the decorations festooning it, are of course very different, and are an important part of France's festive nomenclature.

Below are the names for various Christmas tree decorations in French: