Word.ws English Dictionary

christian

Syllables: Chris·tian/ˈkɹɪʃt͡ʃən/

christian is the uncommon spelling of Christian.

Noun capitalized: Christian

Christian (plural Christians)

  1. A believer in Christianity.
    • Shyl.... If a Iewe wrong a Christian, what is his humillity, reuenge? If a Christian wrong a Iewe, what should his sufferance be by Christian example, why reuenge? The villanie you teach me I will execute, and it shall goe hard but I will better the instruction.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • The whole life of a good Christian is nothing else but a state of holy desire (sanctum desiderium).1848, James Ford translating St. Augustine in The Gospel of St. Matthew, Illustrated from Ancient and Modern Authors, p. 46
    1. (nonstandard) An adherent of Christianity who is not a Catholic; a Protestant.
      • On the contrary, many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians and Catholics, including heterosexual allies of lesbians and gay Christians, of them, have voiced their opinions on the complicated issues of religion and sexuality.2011, Denise Tse-Shang Tang, Conditional Spaces: Hong Kong Lesbian Desires and Everyday Life, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, →ISBN, pages 67–68
      • In South Korea, the Mingjung Theology inspired Christians and Catholics to question the legitimacy of the authoritarian regime.2012, Cheng-tian Kuo, “Institutional Choices of Church-State Relations in Chinese Societies”, in Baogang Guo, Chung-chian Teng, editors, Taiwan and the Rise of China: Cross-Strait Relations in the...
  2. A person who seeks to live his or her life according to the principles and values taught by Jesus Christ.
    • Ye lyfe of euery christian, is as a pilgremage.1526, William Bonde, Preface to Pylgrimage of Perfection
    • The very word ‘Christianity’ is a misunderstanding—at bottom there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross.1976, Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by Walter Arnold Kaufmann, The Antichrist, §39
  3. (England, obsolete) A European, especially though not necessarily of the Christian religion.

Proper noun capitalized: Christian

Christian (countable and uncountable, plural Christians)

  1. A male given name from Ancient Greek found in England since the twelfth century.
    • Roughly 40 to 45 percent of Signature’s gynecomastia patients, says co-founder Christian Gotti, are users of Image- and Performance-Enhancing Drugs (IPEDs).2022 June 28, Jamie Millar, “'SARM Goblins': The Young Men Hooked on Steroids”, in VICE, archived from the original on 07 Nov 2023
  2. A female given name from Ancient Greek of medieval usage, rare today.
  3. A surname originating as a patronymic.
  4. An unincorporated community in Logan County, West Virginia, United States.

Adjective capitalized: Christian

Christian (comparative more Christian, superlative most Christian)

  1. (not comparable) Of, like or relating to Christianity or Christians.
    1. (nonstandard, not comparable) Of, like or relating to Protestant Christians.
      • While Christian churches allow lay believers in Jesus to do exorcism, Catholics limit the practice to selected priests.2000 November 10, “The scourge of evil spirits”, in SCMP
      • This is not to say that there is no discord within Christian and Catholic congregations on this issue.2011, Denise Tse-Shang Tang, Conditional Spaces: Hong Kong Lesbian Desires and Everyday Life, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, →ISBN, page 67
  2. (not comparable) Of, like or relating to Jesus Christ.
  3. Kind, charitable; moral; a term of approbation.
    • That’s very Christian of you.
    • I cannot help thinking there are people in the world who are very tiresome, very impertinent, and very disagreeable; yet, I don’t think it would be a very Christian act were I to tell them so.1824, Susan Ferrier, The Inheritance

Synonyms of christian

Antonyms

1 more antonymsFewer antonyms

Forms of christian

Noun
pluralchristians
pluralChristians
alternative uncommonchristian
alternative abbreviationXtian
alternative abbreviation sometimes (derogatory)Xian
Adjective
comparativemore christian
superlativemost christian
comparativemore Christian
superlativemost Christian
Proper noun
pluralChristians

Origin of christian

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.

Words formed from christian

Phrases with christian

18 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with christian

Questions about christian

What does christian mean?
Christian means a believer in Christianity.
What is christian the uncommon spelling of?
Christian is the uncommon spelling of Christian.
What part of speech is christian?
Christian can be a noun, a proper noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce christian?
Christian is pronounced /ˈkɹɪʃt͡ʃən/.
What is the plural of christian?
The plural of christian is christians.

Words near christian in the dictionary

  1. christfags
  2. Christfollower
  3. Christfollowers
  4. Christhood
  5. Christi
  6. christian
  7. Christian Bible
  8. Christian Brethren
  9. Christian Brother
  10. Christian Brothers
  11. Christian County

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: christian (page history and authors); Christian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-Christian.ogg.

Cite this entry: “christian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/christian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.