Christhood 
Christhood (krist'hud), . [< Christ + -l 
Tlio condition of being the Christ or Messiah. 
Christian 1 (kris'tian), a. and u. [A mod. sub- 
stitution (after L'.' rliristitniiix) for curly mml. 
E. t'lu-ixli-ii, t'rixlfii, < ME. rrixti-ii, crcxti-n (later 
and rarely CliristieH), < AS. cri.ilrii = OS. /;/..- 
tin = OFries. kri.iti'ii. kfi-xtni = l>. rhrixl<-n. 
ki-rati'H = Feel, krixtinii = Sw. Dan. krixti-ii. 
adj., Christian; as a noun, early mod. E. 
Chrixti-n, Crixtrit, < ME. cristrne, crixten, < AS. 
cristfitii, also rrixtcH = OKi-ies. kna/i-mi, l:< / 
/< = 1). f/ii'ixli'ii MLG. krixtrn, 
ktirxti'H. kirxti-ii = M]l(i. ki'i.ttti-iii; krislm. li. 
i, a Christian; from the adj., the Tent. 
forms (AS. crinten, etc.) having the acemn. 
term. -< (see rlirixti-n); = OK. chri.tlii-n, 
tien, F. chrrtifii = Sp. It. criatitnin = Pg. 
ttto, < L. i-lti-ixliiiiiHs, adj. and n., < dr. ^<r- 
rmvof, orig. as a noun, a Christian, later also 
as an adj., Christian, < X/orof, Christ: see 
t'lirixl.] I. rt. 1. Pertaining to or derived 
from Christ or his teachings : as, the Christian 
religion. 2. Received into the body of the 
church of Christ ; acting in the manner, or 
having the spiritual character, proper to a fol- 
lower of Christ : as, a Clirixliini man. 
Nawther ccrciimsise.t sothely ill sort with the Jewes, 
Nc roniyn with cruten men, ne on Crlste Icuyn ; 
But Itarly, as thai borne were, hydon thai stille. 
Destruction of Tray (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4327. 
3. Having adopted or believing in the religion 
of Christ: as, a Christian nation; a Christian 
community. 
In the Church of England the people were never ad- 
mitted to the choice of a hishop from its flrst becoming 
Christian to this very day. 
Jer. Taylor, Episcopacy Asserted. 
4. In accord with or exhibiting the spirit of 
the teachings of Christ : as, Christian conduct. 
5. Ecclesiastical. 
The jurisdiction as to tithes was similarly a dehateahle 
land between the two jurisdictions ; the title to the own- 
ership, as in questions of advowson and presentation, 
belonging to the secular courts, and the process of re- 
covery belonging to the court Christian. 
Stubbs, Const. Hist. (2d ed.), 722. 
Christian Brothers, the common designation of the 
Brethren of the Christian Schools (which see, under bro- 
'/"'). Christian Catholics. See Old Catholics, under 
Ciiilinlif. Christian Connection. See II., 5 (a). 
Christian era, the era of the birth of Christ, from which 
chronology is reckoned in Christian countries. See era. 
Christian name, the name given when one is baptized or 
christened ; hence, the personal as distinguished from the 
family name ; especially, the individual name or names by 
which a person is usually called. 
For my part, I never knew any good come of giving girls 
these heathen Christian names: if you had called her IV 
borah, orTabitha, or Ruth, or Rebecca, or Joan, nothing of 
this had ever happened ; but I always knew Lauretta was 
a runaway name. Sheridan, St. Patrick's Day, ii. 3. 
Christian socialism and socialist. See socialism and 
suriaiist. Knights of Christian Charity. 8MJM0U. 
II. . 1 . A believer in and follower of Jesus 
Christ ; a member of a Christian church. This 
word occurs but three times in the New Testament, and 
then under circumstances which justify the concjusion that 
it was originally coined as a sneering appellation by the 
enemies of Christianity. The names employed by the 
followers of Christ in the apostolic church to designate 
themselves were disciples, followers, believers, brethren, 
and saints. 
And the disciples were called Christians flrst in Antioch. 
Acts xl. 26. 
Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest 
me to be a Christian. Acts xxvi. 28. 
Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be 
ashamed ; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 
1 Pet. iv. 16. 
2. Specifically, one who possesses the spiritual 
character proper to a follower of Christ ; one 
who exemplifies in his life the teachings of 
Christ. 
O it is the penitent, the reformed, the lowly, the watch- 
ful, the self-denying and holy soul, that is the Christian ! 
Penn, Rise and Progress of Quakers, ii. 
3. A member of a nation which, as a whole, 
has adopted some form of Christianity: op- 
posed to pagan, Moslem, and Jew. 4. A civil- 
ized human being, as distinguished from a 
savage or a brute. [Colloq., Eng.] 5. (Gen- 
erally pronounced, distinctively, kris'tian.) (a) 
A member of an American sect which arose 
between 1793 and 1804 among the Methodists 
of North Carolina, the Baptists of Vermont, 
and the Presbyterians of Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee. These bodies, at flrst unknown to each other, 
severally rejected all names but that of Christians, and 
were soon organized into a common denomination, now 
known collectively as the Christian Connection. They have 
no formulated creed, but are generally ( T nitariai in doc- 
trine and Baptists in practice, and their government is 
congregational. They have a general quadrennial eon- 
ferenee. and number about 150,000. (ft) A member of 
a religious sect, properly designated Disciples of 
'.is:, 
Christ (which see, under ilinri/ile). 6. A mem- 
ber of Christ's College, Cambridge, or of Christ 
Church, Oxford. Bible Christian. See /;./,/,. 
Christians of St. John. See Maivlimn. Christians 
of St. Thomas, the members .if a community of Ncstori 
an> settled on the Malabar coast of India since the early 
part nf the sixth eentitry, or longer, who profess to have 
derived their rliristianity from the apostle St. 'I'limna-. 
In l.MW they were compelled by the Portuguese to submit 
to the papal see. but not long afterward tile greater part 
of them restored the imlepenilence of their church. They 
retain many aneient customs, use the Syriae lank'Ha-i' in 
their liturgy, and are said now to be Mniiuphysites. New 
Christians, a name given to those .Mimrs ami Jews wh.i 
in tile tlfteenth and sixteenth centuries in Spain, tn avuiil 
pei-M-entiim, pnbliely professed conversion to Christianity 
ami eiinfornieil to tlu-church, while still retaining more or 
less attachment to their former religions faith and ritual. 
The New Christians, as they were called, formed a kind 
of distinct and intermediate class of believers. 
MUiiKin. Hist. .lews, III. 307. 
Christian 1 ! (kris'tian), v. t. [< Christian, .: 
substituted for earlier christen, cristen: see 
cliristi'ii, /.] To baptize. Fulke. 
Christian- (kris'tian), n. [Aftera Danish king, 
Chrixliini, Erwtton.] A gold coin first struck 
in 1775 by Christian VII. of Denmark as duke 
of Holstein, of the value of a pistole, or about 
$4.12. Also Christian d'or. 
Christiana (kris-ti-a'na), n. An old Swedish 
silver coin, worth about 14 cents. 
Christian d'or. See Christian^. 
Christianisation, Christianise. See Chrixtian- 
i : : iitiftii. t 'hriritidiiizi'. 
Christianismt (kris'tian-izm), . [< F. chris- 
tiiniisme = Pr. anMWMifM = Sp. cristianismo 
= Pg. cliristianismo = It. cristianesimo, cris- 
tianismo, < LL. christianismus, < Gr. xp' aTlavl "- 
/i6f, Christianity, < gfioriavjfetv (LL. christiani- 
zare), profess one's self a Christian: see Chris- 
tianize.] 1. The Christian religion. 
That I may not seem, rather forcibly, to break out of 
Platoliism into Christianitm. 
Dr. II. More, Song of the Soul. 
Herein the worst of Kings, professing Chrintianusm, 
have by farr exceeded him. Hilton, Eikonoklastes, i. 
2. The nations professing Christianity; Chris- 
tendom. Johnson. 
christianite (kris'tian-it), n. 1. [After Prince 
Christian Frederik of Denmark.] A variety of 
the feldspar anorthite, from the Monte Som- 
ma on Vesuvius. 2. [After Christian VIII. of 
Denmark.] A name sometimes given to the 
zeolite phillipsite. 
Christianity (kris-ti-an'i-ti), . [An altera- 
tion toward the LL.'form'of the earlier mod. E. 
ehristenty, < ME. cristiente, cristianitee, cryst//- 
ante, cristante, < OF. crestiente, crestientet, F. 
chretientt = Pr. chrestiantat, xristiandat = Cat. 
ehristiandat = Sp. cristiandad = Pg. christian- 
dade = It. cristianita, < LL. christiaita(t-)s, < 
christianus, Christian: see Christian^ and -ity.~] 
1 . The religion founded by Jesus Christ. Chris- 
tianity may be regarded as divisible into (a) Historical 
Christianity, the facts and principles stated in the New 
Testament, especially those concerning the life, suffer- 
ings, death, resurrection, ascension, and nature of Jesus, 
together with the subsequent development of the Chris- 
tian church, and the gradual embodiment in society of 
the principles inculcated by it. 
A candid but rational inquiry into the progress and es- 
tablishment of Christianity may be considered as a very 
essential part of the history of the Roman Empire. 
Gibbon, Decline and Fall, xv. 
(6) Doffinatic Christianity, the systems of theological doc- 
trine founded on the New Testament. These systems dif- 
fer with different churches, sects, and schools. 
Engelhard's method finds . . . the second period, that 
of synthetic talent, employed in constructing Christianity 
as a universal system, marked by two tendencies, the scho- 
lastic and mystic. Shedd, Hist, of Christ. Doct., VI. 38. 
(c) Vital Christianity, the spirit manifested by Jesus 
Christ in his life, and which he commanded his followers 
to imitate. 
Every one who lives in the habitual practice of any vol- 
untary sin, cute himself off from Christianity. Addistm. 
Christianity is a soul-power an invisible immutable 
power in the world. H. W. Beeeher, Sermons, I. 388. 
2f. The body of Christian believers. 
To Walys fled the cristianitee 
Of olde Britons. 
Chaucer, Man of Law's Tale, 1. 446. 
3f. The Christian or civilized world; Christen- 
dom. 
Ther neuer was no better in crystiante. 
Nugcc Poet., p. 57. 
4. Conformity to the teachings of Christ in life 
and conduct. [Bare.] Evidences of Christian- 
ity, also called evidences of revealed religion, or simply 
evidences, the proofs of the divine origin of Christianity. 
They are classified as external and internal evidences. 
The former are again chiefly two, the argument from pro- 
phecies and the argument from miracles ; the latter is the 
argument from the character of Christ and of his teach- 
ings, from the adaptation of Christianity to the needs of 
man, and from the history of its effects in the world. The 
Christmas 
term does not include the pnuif* of the existence of a Di- 
vine Iteiiik' Muscular Christianity, a phrase first used 
by Charles Kinysley In ilrnot,' a tiealtb) . robust, anil el ieer 
fill religion, I, ]|i- tbat ]e;nU apiT-iin lii lake ah artivi ]i;nf 
in life, ami iloe- nut linwii npnn barmless enjoyments, as 
opposed to u religion which is n i onti-mphitivc, ami 
in gleets to a great extent the present lift'. Hence also 
the phrase i/tnfttlil / ( 'f: / < 
Christianization (kris'tian-i-za'shon), n. [< 
i 'liri.itiani^f + -HtiHii.] 'The act or process of 
converting to Christianity. Also spelled ( 'In'i.i- 
tinninntion. 
The policy of Chri*t!an<z<iti<iH ami civilization broke the 
Normans them-eln-s into two parties. 
J. R. Green, Conq. of Eng. . p. :!7 
Christianize (kris'tian-iz), . ; pret. and pp. 
clirix/iiini -ill, |>|ir. clirixliiniUinij. [=F. chris- 
titniixer = Sp. rrixliiiiii-:nr \'\1. cliristinniziir, 
< LL. chrixti<ini:iir<; make Christian, earlier 
profess Christianity, < Gr. x/Htnavi(ea>, profess 
Christianity, < xptonmtf, a Christian: see 
Christian^.] I. trans. 1. To make Christian; 
convert to Christianity : as, to Christianize the 
heathen. 2. To imbue with Christian princi- 
ples. 
Christianized philosopher!. /. Taylor. 
Il.t in trans. To follow or profess Christian- 
ity ; to approach the character of a Christian. 
[Rare.] 
Where Prestcr lohn (though part he ludaize) 
Doth in som sort devoutly Christianize. 
Sylvester, tr. of IJu Bartas'n Weeks, II., The Colonie*. 
Also spelled Christianise. 
Christianly (kris'tian-li), a. [< Christian, n., 
+ -lyi. Ct.OVriea.'kemtenlik.] Christian-like; 
becoming or befitting a Christian. [Rare.] 
Neither is it safe, or warie, or indeed Christianly, that 
the French King, of a different Faith, should afford our 
neerest Allyes as good protection as we. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng., ii. 
Father he bight and he was in the parish ; a Christianly 
plainness 
Clothed from his head to his feet the old man of seventy 
winters. 
Lonfifelloip, tr. of Children of the Lord's Supper. 
Christianly (kris'tian-li), adv. [< ME. crw- 
tfiily, < AS. "cristenlice (=: OHG. christaiilihho, 
MHG. kristenliche), < cristen, Christian, + -lice: 
see Christian^ an d -ty 2 .] In a Christian man- 
ner ; in a manner consistent with the principles 
of the Christian religion or the profession of 
that religion. [Rare.] 
Every man Christianly instructed. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng., i. 
Christianness (kris'tian-nes), n. [< Christian 1 , 
a., + -ness.] The quality of being in consonance 
with the doctrines of Christianity. [Rare.] 
It is very . . . unreasonable ... to judge the chris- 
tiannesa of an action by the law of natural reason. 
Hammond, Of Conscience, 26. 
Christianographyt (kris-tia-nog'ra-fi), . [< 
Gr. xpiartavuf, a Christian, + -ypof/a, < ypatytiv, 
write.] A description of Christian nations. 
Christicolist (kris-tik'6-list), n. [< ML. Chrfs- 
ticola (< L. Christus, Christ, + colere, worship) 
+ -ist.] A worshiper of Christ. Ogilvie. [Rare.] 
Christless (krist'les), a. [< Christ + -less.] 
Without Christ ; having no faith in Christ ; un- 
christian. 
A million horrible bellowing echoes broke 
From the red-ribb'd hollow behind the wood, 
And thunder'd up into Heaven the Christtess code, 
That must have life for a blow. 
Tennyson, Maud, xxiii. 1. 
Christliness (krist'li-nes), n. [< Christly + 
-ness.] The quality or character of being 
Christly. 
Yet the Christliness of a principle is no certain safeguard 
against unwisdom in its application. 
Xew Princeton Rev., I. 38. 
Christly (krist'li), a. [< Christ + -ly*. Cf. AS. 
cristlic = D. christelijk = G. chrlstlich = Dan. 
kristeliq = Sw. christlig. Cf. Christianly, a.] 
Christ-'like. 
And so it conies to pass that a Christly life is also man's 
true language. Boardman, Creative Week, p. 213. 
Christmas (kris'mas), n. [< ME. Cristmas, Crist- 
rues, Cristemasse, Cristesmesse (not in AS.) (= 
MD. kerstmisse, D. kersmis = MLG. kerstes- 
misse), i. e., Cristes masse, Christ's mass or holy 
day: see Christ and mass 1 .] 1. The festival 
of the Christian church observed annually in 
memory of the birth of Christ. The festival prop- 
erly begins with the evening of the 24th day of December, 
called Christinas eve, and continues until Epiphany, on 
the 6th of January, the whole period l>eing called Christ- 
iii< tide ; hut it is more particularly observed on the 25th 
of December, which is called Christmas day or simply 
Christmas. In the Roman, Greek, Episcopal, and Lutheran 
churches Christmas is observed as a religious festival with 
special services. Its celebration was formerly forbidden 
by the Puritans, but Christmas day is now generally ob- 
served throughout Christendom by religious services, by 
