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christen

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Christen

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English cristenen, cristnien, from Old English cristnian (“to christen, baptise”), from cristen (“Christen, Christian”) +‎ -nian. Cognate with Dutch kerstenen (“to christen”), Middle Low German kristenen, kerstenen, karstenen (“to christen”), Danish kristne (“to christen”) Swedish kristna (“to christen”), Icelandic kristna (“to christen”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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christen (third-person singular simple present christens, present participle christening, simple past and past participle christened)

  1. (transitive) To perform the religious act of baptism upon; to baptize.
    The new baby was christened at the village church.
  2. (transitive, by extension) To name.
    I christen this ship the Bonny Barnacle.
    • 1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth
      Christen the thing what you will.
  3. (obsolete) To Christianize.
    • 1657, Jeremy Taylor, Discourse of the Nature, Offices and Measures of Friendship:
      I must tell you that christianity hath new christened it
  4. (colloquial) To use for the first time.
    • 2024 August 19, Melissa Locker, “Foo Fighters Rock the Hell Out of Portland's New 30,000-Seat Stadium”, in Portland Mercury‎[1]:
      Foo Fighters, the Pretenders, and Alex G christened Portland’s newest music venue Friday night, and it was a show for the ages.
    I christened my new boots today with a walk in the snow.
  5. (informal) To douse or wet with blood, urine, tears, or other liquid.
    • 1892, John Henry Brown, History of Texas; from 1685 to 1892 - Volume 1, page 127:
      Thus was De Witt's colony, like Austin's, at the mouth of the Colorado, christened in blood, and thus for the moment ended the first effort to found a settlement within its limits.
    • 2002, Sue Grafton, Q Is for Quarry:
      I christened the facilities, shrugged into my windbreaker, and met Dolan at his door.
    • 2005, Linda Sonna, Early-Start Potty Training, page viii:
      Being christened by a urinating bare-bottomed newborn is almost a rite of passage of parenthood.
    • 2010, Stefan Korn, Scott Lancaster, Eric Mooij, Being a Great Dad For Dummies, page 122:
      By the way if, as part of your fatherhood journey, you haven't been vomited on, had poo squirted on you, or been christened with pee yet, you're not trying hard enough.
    • 2012, Glory Keveme, Broken Wings, page 51:
      A daddy-long-legs lurched against the white-washed walls while Surefire christened the lime-swilled fresh bucket with a strong stream of urine.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle Dutch cristen, variant of kersten, from Old Dutch cristīn, from Latin Christiānus, from Ancient Greek Χρῑστιᾱνός (Khrīstiānós). The current Dutch spelling has been influenced by the Latin and subsequently also the Greek words.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkrɪs.tən/
  • (some orthodox Protestants) IPA(key): /ˈxrɪs.tən/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: chris‧ten
  • Rhymes: -ɪstən

Noun

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christen m (plural christenen, diminutive christentje n, feminine christin)

  1. Christian

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Negerhollands: christ
  • → Caribbean Javanese: Kristen
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