χριστός

Forms

χρῑστός (khrīstós) m (feminine χρῑστή, neuter χρῑστόν); first/second declension^[1] The Mycenaean neuter plural ki-ri-ta, used of textiles on a Knossos tablet, may be this adjective in the sense “dyed”, but the identification is uncertain.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek χρίω (khrī́ō) + -τός (-tós), the verbal adjective of χρίω (khrī́ō, “to rub, anoint”): first “fit for rubbing on”, then “rubbed on, anointed”.^[1][4][5] The origin of the verb is unclear.^[2][4] It is usually compared with Lithuanian griẽti (“to skim cream”) and with Germanic words such as Old English grīma (“mask, helmet”), but the meanings are far apart, and Chantraine finds no precise match outside Greek.^[2][4] Pokorny and Etymonline set up a root Proto-Indo-European *gʰrey- (“to rub”) for the group.^[6][7] Frisk found a comparison with the Phrygian participle γεγρειμεναν (gegreimenan, “painted, inscribed”) tempting, but Chantraine rejects it because the Phrygian forms are not understood.^[4][2]

As a noun, “the anointed one”, it is the Septuagint's rendering of Biblical Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (māšîaḥ, “anointed”), the title of the kings of Israel, which Greek also borrowed as μεσσίας (messías).^[5][8][9] Latin took the title as Latin Christus, with Latin Christianus, from which Greek borrowed back Χριστιανός (Khrīstiānós).^[4] English Christ comes from the Latin word.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound Prometheus recalls that before his gifts the sick had no remedy, nothing to eat, nothing to drink and nothing to rub on: there, and in Euripides' Hippolytus, it means “to be rubbed on, used as an ointment”, as opposed to πιστός (pistós, “drinkable”).^[5][10][11]

Semantic evolution

The Septuagint gave the word its religious sense.^[5][9] It calls the oil of consecration “the anointing oil” and the high priest “the anointed priest”, and above all uses it for the king of Israel, “the Lord's anointed”, as the Hebrew does^[5][9]; Isaiah applies it even to Cyrus, and a psalm calls the patriarchs “my anointed ones”.^[5][9] The Psalms of Solomon use it of the expected Messiah.^[9][12]

In the New Testament it is only a noun: “the Christ”, the deliverer Israel awaited, and the Gospel of John glosses μεσσίας (messías) with it.^[12][8][13] From early on it was also used without the article as part of the name of Jesus, Ἰησοῦς Χριστός.^[5][12] Coptic borrowed it as ⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ (khristos) by about AD 300.^[14] The Byzantine lexicon of Zonaras explains that the name means God and man together, and notes that kings too were called anointed, because they were anointed with oil from a horn.^[15]

Modern Greek uses χριστός (christós) in church language for one who has received the chrism, and, capitalised, as the name of Christ.^[16][17]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of remedies rubbed on the body, as opposed to those drunk.^[5][10][18]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of an ointment in the Hippolytus.^[5][10][18]
• 3rd century BC – The Septuagint translation of Leviticus uses it of the anointing oil and the anointed priest.^[5][9][11]
• 2nd century BC – The Septuagint books of Kingdoms call the king of Israel “the Lord's anointed”.^[5][9][11]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it as a noun for the Messiah and as part of the name of Jesus.^[5][12]
• About AD 300 – The first dated Coptic manuscripts with the loanword Coptic ⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ (khristos) are written.^[14]
• About 830 – Old English has crist, from Latin Christus, the source of English Christ.^[7]
• 13th century – The lexicon of Zonaras explains the title of Christ as naming him both God and man.^[15]
• Modern Greek – χριστός (christós) means “anointed” in church language, and, capitalised, it is the name of Christ.^[16][17]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of a remedy) To be rubbed on, used as an ointment or salve.^[5][10]
2. (Septuagint) Used for anointing, of the consecrating oil; of persons, anointed, of the high priest.^[5][9]

Noun

1. (Septuagint) The anointed one: the anointed king of Israel, “the Lord's anointed”; in the plural, of the patriarchs.^[5][9]
2. (Jewish and New Testament) The Messiah, the deliverer Israel expected.^[12][5][13]
3. (New Testament) Christ, as part of the name of Jesus.^[5][12]

Word family

• μυρόχριστος (murókhrīstos)
• ἔγχριστος (énkhrīstos)
• ἐπίχριστος (epíkhrīstos)
• κατάχριστος (katákhrīstos)
• περίχριστος (períkhrīstos)

Related words

• χρῖσμα (khrîsma)
• χρῖμα (khrîma)
• χρίω (khrī́ō)
• Χριστιανός (Khrīstiānós)
• μεσσίας (messías)
• Latin Christus
• English Christ

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
3. ^ Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
4. ^ a b c d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
11. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
12. ^ a b c d e f Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
13. ^ a b Thayer, Joseph Henry (1889), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, New York: American Book Company
14. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
15. ^ a b Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
16. ^ a b Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
17. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
18. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge