Christmas is a proper noun, as it is the name of a specific holiday. Proper nouns are words that are used to refer to specific people, places, things, or ideas, and they always begin with a capital letter. For example, "Christmas" refers to the holiday celebrated on December 25th, while "christmas" (with a lowercase c) refers to the trees, decorations, and other materials used to decorate for the holiday. In this way, Christmas is a proper noun that is distinct from the common noun "christmas".