La fête de Noël en France : vocabulaire et traditions

What does “réveillon” mean in French?

Le réveillon is the long festive meal eaten late on 24 December, and again on 31 December. It names the meal and the night rather than the holiday: le réveillon de Noël happens the evening before Christmas Day, and le réveillon du Nouvel An sees the year out. The word is built on réveil, “waking” — the whole point of a réveillon is staying up.

It belongs to a family of staying-awake words: veiller (to stay up, to keep watch), la veille (the day before), une veillée (an evening gathering), and the verb réveillonner, “to have a réveillon.” So le réveillon de Noël is literally the vigil meal — which is exactly what it was before it became roast turkey, oysters and a bûche.