What does “réveillon” mean in French?
La fête de Noël en France : vocabulaire et traditions
A1 French listening practice · French · Picked for people who know a little
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.