crismon

Latin

Etymology

Medieval Latin; the meaning "chrism" is attested in the 12th century, apparently by corruption of Ancient Greek χρῖσμᾰ (khrîsma), from χρίω (khríō, “to anoint”). The meaning "Christogram" is of uncertain origin;^[1] Millin (1817) suggests derivation from χρησμός (khrēsmós, “oracle”) specifically in the instance of the "Chrismon Sancti Ambrosii" (i.e. the "oracle of St. Ambrose), an ancient Chi-Rho symbol on a marble slab in Milan cathedral, from which the term chrismon would have been transferred to the Chi-Rho symbol in general.^[2]

Noun

crismon n (genitive crismī); second declension

Christogram, chrismon (Chi-Rho monogram)
chrism
- c. 1130: "In sabbato secundo de Quadragesima, duo minores custodes septimanarii […] debent quærere cilicium ab archiepiscopo, et debent portare in medio ecclesiæ, et facere Chrismon super illud decurrere." L. A. Murator, Antiquitates Italicae medii aevi vol. 4, col. 912.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter, Greek-type).

	singular	plural
nominative	crismon	crisma
genitive	crismī	crismōrum
dative	crismō	crismīs
accusative	crismon	crisma
ablative	crismō	crismīs
vocative	crismon	crisma

Derived terms

chrismos, chrismum, chrismus

Descendants

→ English: chrismon
→ German: Chrismon

References

crismon in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

^ Crismon (par les Bénédictins de St. Maur, 1733–1736), in: du Cange, et al., Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, ed. augm., Niort : L. Favre, 1883‑1887, t. 2, col. 621b. "CRISMON, Nota quæ in libro ex voluntate uniuscujusque ad aliquid notandum ponitur. Papias in MS. Bituric. Crismon vel Chrismon proprie est Monogramma Christi sic expressum ☧" 1 chrismon (par les Bénédictins de St. Maur, 1733–1736), in: du Cange, et al., Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, ed. augm., Niort : L. Favre, 1883‑1887, t. 2, col. 318c, citing Heumann. de re Diplom. inde a Carol. M. § 12; Murator. Antiquit. Ital. tom. 3. col. 75. The suggestion here is that the letter χ for χρηστός (khrēstós) "useful" was used as a scribal siglum in manuscript margins to draw attention to important passages; this letter χ would itself have been called χρήσιμα, which in turn became the name of the Christogram, no doubt via influence of chrisma and of the name Christus itself.
^ A. L. Millin, Voyage dans le Milanais (1817), p. 51.

[1] Crismon (par les Bénédictins de St. Maur, 1733–1736), in: du Cange, et al., Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, ed. augm., Niort : L. Favre, 1883‑1887, t. 2, col. 621b. "CRISMON, Nota quæ in libro ex voluntate uniuscujusque ad aliquid notandum ponitur. Papias in MS. Bituric. Crismon vel Chrismon proprie est Monogramma Christi sic expressum ☧" 1 chrismon (par les Bénédictins de St. Maur, 1733–1736), in: du Cange, et al., Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, ed. augm., Niort : L. Favre, 1883‑1887, t. 2, col. 318c, citing Heumann. de re Diplom. inde a Carol. M. § 12; Murator. Antiquit. Ital. tom. 3. col. 75. The suggestion here is that the letter χ for χρηστός (khrēstós) "useful" was used as a scribal siglum in manuscript margins to draw attention to important passages; this letter χ would itself have been called χρήσιμα, which in turn became the name of the Christogram, no doubt via influence of chrisma and of the name Christus itself.

[2] A. L. Millin, Voyage dans le Milanais (1817), p. 51.

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