Christian

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cristien, also cristian and christian,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman cristian, also christian and cristien,^[3] and directly borrowed from Latin Chrīstiānus (“a follower of Christ”),^[3][2][4][5] formed from Chrīstus and -iānus.^[3][6] The Latin word is taken from Ancient Greek χριστιανός (khristianós),^[7][4][6][8] from Χριστός (Khristós, “anointed”), which became Christ.^[7][9][1] The Anglo-Norman form is recorded from 1113–19.^[10] English already had the older Old English cristen, Middle English cristen, from Latin as well,^[11][7][2] and the new form largely replaced it as adjective and noun;^[3] the Old English adjective was the basis of the verb that gives christen.^[9] Barnhart treats the modern spelling as a respelling of the old form in the 1500s after Latin and Greek,^[8] and Ayto as a 16th-century introduction from Latin.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person or group, adhering to the Christian religion: about 1300, in the Saint Thomas Becket of the Laud manuscript.^[3] The noun, a follower of the religion, follows about 1330 in Arthour and Merlin.^[3] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster, going by the modern form, date the noun to the 1520s (1526) and the adjective to 1547–50s.^[7][12] The Old English ancestor of the older form is recorded about 750, in Cynewulf's Elene.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline points to the Acts of the Apostles for the first use of the name: And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.^[7] In English, the sense moved from membership of the faith to the conduct expected of its members: from 1526 the adjective could describe a person or an act consistent with Christian morals,^[3] and Etymonline notes that this continued a sense of Middle English cristen.^[7] The word also came to mean a human being as opposed to an animal, a use common in the Romance languages,^[3] from 1551 as an adjective and before 1616 as a noun (as cunning as a Christian).^[3] The English Dialect Dictionary records the same sense in many counties, with As wise as a Christen said of a dog in Northumberland.^[13] From there it weakened to "decent, respectable".^[3][5][14] Between 1622 and 1838 it could mean a white person, especially a colonist or settler, as distinguished from an Indigenous one.^[3] Cant of the early 19th century used it for a tradesman who gives credit, one who "has faith".^[14] Johnson (1755) defines the adjective simply as professing the religion of Christ.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 750 – the older form, Old English cristen, in Cynewulf's Elene.^[8]
• 1213 – as a surname, Matheus Cristien.^[3]
• c. 1300 – adjective, adhering to the Christian religion.^[3]
• c. 1330 – noun, a follower of the Christian religion.^[3] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date the noun in its modern form to the 1520s and 1526.^[7][12]
• c. 1432 – adjective, relating to or characteristic of Christianity.^[3]
• 1442 – most Christian, a title of monarchs, especially the king of France.^[3]
• 1526 – adjective, consistent with Christian morals.^[3]
• 1534 – verb, to christen.^[3]
• 1551 – adjective, human as distinguished from animal.^[3]
• before 1616 – noun, a human being as distinguished from an animal.^[3]
• 1617 – adjective, civilized, decent.^[3]
• 1622 – noun, a white person as distinguished from an Indigenous one (obsolete by 1838).^[3]
• 1629 – noun, a variety of plum, and then of pear.^[3]
• 1804 – noun, a member of one of several religious movements in North America.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who believes in and follows the teachings of Jesus Christ.^[16][12][3]
2. A member of a Christian church or denomination.^[16][12]
3. (informal) A person with Christian virtues, or a decent, respectable person.^[16][3][5]
4. (chiefly dialect) A human being, as distinguished from an animal.^[12][3][13]
5. In the United States, a member of one of several religious movements of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.^[3][5]
6. (obsolete or rare) A variety of pear or plum.^[3][5]

Adjective

1. Professing or belonging to Christianity: a Christian community on the coast.^[12][3][5]
2. Relating to Jesus Christ or his teachings.^[16][12][5]
3. Based on or in keeping with Christianity: a Christian funeral.^[12][3]
4. Sometimes without a capital, showing kindness or goodness, like the example of Christ.^[16][12][5]
5. most Christian: a title of a monarch, especially the king of France.^[12][3]
6. (colloquial) Civilized, decent or respectable.^[3][5][14]

Word family

• Christianly
• post-Christian
• anti-Christian
• Christianism
• Christianlike
• Judaeo-Christian
• Christian name
• Christianity
• Christianize

Related words

• Christlike
• cretin
• Christ
• christen
• Christendom
• Christmas

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins