# Claus
## English
### Alternative forms

* Klaus

### Etymology

From Dutch and German Claus, a contraction of Nicolaus (“Nicholas”). The spelling Klaus is from more modern German Klaus and other Germanic languages.

### Proper noun

Claus (plural Clauses)
* A male given name from Ancient Greek.
* Fictitious surname of Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.
** 1951, Edna M. Cahill, editor, The Jumbo Christmas Book, page 132:[…] bringing you a merry Christmas program right from the North Pole where the Claus family holds court […] Santa Claus in person, Mrs. Claus, and Little Claus.
** 2014, E[lizabeth] D[awson] Baker, The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, →ISBN:As Cory and Suzy hurried down the steps to greet the Clauses, the elves were rolling up the legs of their pants and running down to the water’s edge. Santa and Mrs. Claus laughed when they saw them and were still chuckling as they started toward the house.
** 2017, Philip Morency, On the Aisle, Volume 3: Film Reviews by Philip Morency, Pittsburgh, Pa.: RoseDog Books, →ISBN, page 18:Arthur lives at the North Pole. His dad is Santa Claus. His granddad used to be Santa Claus before his dad became Santa Claus. […] But along for the ride is Grandpa Claus (who’s 136 years old and he is retired).
** 2017, Caleb Zane Huett, Top Elf, Scholastic Press, →ISBN:Klaus came first. He was fourteen, the oldest of the Clauses’ four children. We all knew he would inherit the title of Santa one day—he always dressed in red-and-white suits to make sure we never forgot.
** 2018, Lauren Rosewarne, Analyzing Christmas in Film: Santa to the Supernatural, Lexington Books, →ISBN, page 273:In Merry in Laws (2012), scientist Alex (Kassia Warshawski) introduces her parents to her fiancé, Peter (Lucas Bryant), and his parents, Santa Claus (George Wendt) and Mrs. Claus (Shelley Long). Alex’s father, Steven (Greg Lawson), comments derisively about the Clauses: “These people are light years away from who we are,” implying, seemingly, that he considers the Clauses as intellectually (if not also psychologically) inferior.
** 2019, Julie Christianson, Alayna Denison, Mrs. Claus Goes Country, Xlibris, →ISBN:The Clauses and the elves sit down to dine on a Christmas breakfast tasting so yummy and right that Santa stops between bites and praises his wife: “This is delicious! You must have been cooking all night!”
** 2020, William McInnes, Christmas Tales, Hachette, →ISBN:Branson was Branson, Missouri, where you could find the world’s biggest Santa Claus convention with over seven hundred professional Santas, Mrs Clauses and helpers hanging out together for a five-day convention. ‘A Santa convention?’ ‘Oh yes,’ said Mrs Claus and Mr Claus echoed his agreement.
** 2022, Liz Ireland, Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves, Kensington Books, →ISBN:The large family room on the first floor was where the Claus family spent afternoons when they were in the castle, and today it was the room where my mother-in-law was holding court for a lot of our family, both close and distant.

#### Derived terms

* Mrs. Claus
* Saint Claus
* Santa Claus

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* LUCAs, Lucas, cauls, lusca

## Danish
### Alternative forms

* Klaus

### Proper noun

Claus
* a male given name derived from Nikolaus

#### Related terms

* Niels and its variants
* (surnames) Clausen, Klausen

### References

* Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 25 307 males with the given name Claus (compared to 11 180 named Klaus) have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1960s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

## German
### Etymology

From Nicolaus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /klaʊ̯s/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -aʊ̯s

### Proper noun

Claus
* a male given name, a less common variant of Klaus