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Christen
Definitions
- 1 Obsolete form of Christian. alt-of, not-comparable, obsolete
"Mrs. Dashwood had never been so much pleased with any young women in her life, as she was with them; had given each of them a needle-book, made by some emigrant; called Lucy by her christen name; and did not know whether she should ever be able to part with them."
- 1 Obsolete form of Christian. alt-of, obsolete
- 1 To perform the religious rite of baptism upon; to baptize. transitive
"The new baby was christened at the village church."
- 2 administer baptism to wordnet
- 3 To name. broadly, transitive
"I christen this ship the Bonny Barnacle."
- 4 To Christianize. obsolete
"I must tell you that christianity hath new christened it"
- 5 To use for the first time. colloquial
"I christened my new boots today with a walk in the snow."
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- 6 To douse or wet with blood, urine, tears, or other liquid. informal
"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."
Etymology
From Middle English cristenen, cristnien, from Old English cristnian (“to christen, baptise”), from cristen (“Christen, Christian”) + -nian. Cognate with Saterland Frisian kristenje (“to christen”), Dutch kerstenen (“to christen”), Middle Low German kristenen, kerstenen, karstenen (“to christen”), Danish kristne (“to christen”), Swedish kristna (“to christen”), Icelandic kristna (“to christen”). By surface analysis, Christ + -en.
From Middle English Cristen, from Old English crīsten (ca. 890), from Latin Christiānus.
From Middle English Cristen, from Old English crīsten (ca. 890), from Latin Christiānus.
See also for "christen"
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Unscramble this word: christen