Christian

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈkɹɪʃt͡ʃən/ See IPA manual

Freq #2212

Meanings

1

noun
A person who believes in and follows Christianity.

Millions of Christians celebrate Easter each year.
2

adj
Relating to Christianity or its followers.

They were married in a traditional Christian ceremony.
3

name
A male given name.

Christian arrived late to the meeting.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

charitable helpful kind neighborlyneighbourlysweet

Opposites

agnostic atheist corrupt heathen immoral impropernon-christianpagan savage sinful unjust

Word family

Forms christiansunchristian

Derived forms christian-likechristiansburgeven-christianneo-christianout-christianzio-christian

Related forms catholicchristianachristianitychristianizechristinachristinechristlikechristologicalcretin fundamentalist jewmessiah

Etymology

From Middle English Cristien, from Old French chrestien, from Latin Chrīstiānus, from Ancient Greek Χρῑστιᾱνός (Khrīstiānós), from Χρῑστός (Khrīstós, “Christ, anointed [one]”) + Latin suffix -ānus. The older form is Christen. Doublet of cretin. By surface analysis, Christ + -ian.

*gʰrey- Proto-Indo-European Cristien Middle English chrestien Old French Chrīstiānus Latin Χρῑστιᾱνός Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# Christian

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, adj, name
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɹɪʃt͡ʃən/
**Frequency rank:** 2212

## Meanings
1. A person who believes in and follows Christianity.
2. Relating to Christianity or its followers.
3. A male given name.

## Examples
- Millions of Christians celebrate Easter each year.
- They were married in a traditional Christian ceremony.
- Christian arrived late to the meeting.

## Synonyms
- charitable
- helpful
- kind
- neighborly
- neighbourly
- sweet

## Antonyms
- agnostic
- atheist
- corrupt
- heathen
- immoral
- improper
- non-christian
- pagan
- savage
- sinful
- unjust

## Derived Forms
- christian-like
- christiansburg
- even-christian
- neo-christian
- out-christian
- zio-christian

## Related Forms
- catholic
- christiana
- christianity
- christianize
- christina
- christine
- christlike
- christological
- cretin
- fundamentalist
- jew
- messiah

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *gʰrey-
- Root: Cristien
- Root: chrestien
- Root: Chrīstiānus
- Root: Χρῑστιᾱνός

## Etymology
From Middle English Cristien, from Old French chrestien, from Latin Chrīstiānus, from Ancient Greek Χρῑστιᾱνός (Khrīstiānós), from Χρῑστός (Khrīstós, “Christ, anointed [one]”) + Latin suffix -ānus. The older form is Christen. Doublet of cretin. By surface analysis, Christ + -ian.

## AI Etymology
Christian is an adjective, noun, and name. It is from Middle English Cristien, from Old French chrestien, from Latin Chrīstiānus, from Ancient Greek Χρῑστιᾱνός (Khrīstiānós), from Χρῑστός (Khrīstós, “Christ, anointed [one]”) + Latin suffix -ānus. The older form is Christen. Doublet of cretin. By surface analysis, Christ + -ian. Historical forms in the chain include *gʰrey- (Proto-Indo-European), Cristien (Middle English), chrestien (Old French), Chrīstiānus (Latin), and Χρῑστιᾱνός (Ancient Greek). Current senses include a person who believes in and follows Christianity, relating to Christianity or its followers, and a male given name. Derived forms include christian-like, christiansburg, even-christian, neo-christian, and out-christian. Related words include catholic, christiana, christianity, and christianize.

## Topics
- People & Society

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