*chris*

a. Opposed to the Christian religion. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. Opposition or contrariety to the Christian religion. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an antichristian manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. crisme, from AS. crisma; also OE. creme, fr. OF. cresme, like the AS. word fr. LL. chrisma, fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to anoint; perh. akin to L. friare, fricare, to rub, Skr. gharsh, E. friable, friction. Cf. Chrisom. ] (Gr. & R. C. Church&unr_;s) [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Olive oil mixed with balm and spices, consecrated by the bishop on Maundy Thursday, and used in the administration of baptism, confirmation, ordination, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The same as Chrisom. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. chrismalis. ] Of or pertaining to or used in chrism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. chrismatio. ] The act of applying the chrism, or consecrated oil. [ 1913 Webster ]

Chrismation or cross-signing with ointment, was used in baptism. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. chrismatorium. ] A cruet or vessel in which chrism is kept. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Chrism. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A white cloth, anointed with chrism, or a white mantle thrown over a child when baptized or christened. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A child which died within a month after its baptism; -- so called from the chrisom cloth which was used as a shroud for it. [ Obs. ] Blount. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. Christus, Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; anointed, fr. chri`ein to anoint. See Chrism. ] The Anointed; an appellation given to Jesus, the Savior. It is synonymous with the Hebrew Messiah. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The mark of the cross, as cut, painted, written, or stamped on certain objects, -- sometimes as the sign of 12 o'clock on a dial. [ 1913 Webster ]

The fescue of the dial is upon the christcross of noon. Old Play. Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The beginning and the ending. [ Obs. ] Quarles. [ 1913 Webster ]

The alphabet; -- formerly so called, either from the cross usually set before it, or from a superstitious custom, sometimes practiced, of writing it in the form of a cross, by way of a charm. [ 1913 Webster ]

From infant conning of the Christcross-row. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. any of several tropical ferns of the genus Christella having thin brittle fronds. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Christened p. pr. & vb. n. Christening. ] [ AS. cristnian to make a Christian, fr. cristen a Christian. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To baptize and give a Christian name to. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To give a name; to denominate. “Christen the thing what you will.” Bp. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To Christianize. [ Obs. ] Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To use for the first time. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. cristendōm; cristen a Christian + -dom. ] 1. The profession of faith in Christ by baptism; hence, the Christian religion, or the adoption of it. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The name received at baptism; or, more generally, any name or appelation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Pretty, fond, adoptious christendoms. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That portion of the world in which Christianity prevails, or which is governed under Christian institutions, in distinction from heathen or Muslim lands. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Arian doctrine which then divided Christendom. Milton [ 1913 Webster ]

A wide and still widening Christendom. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The whole body of Christians. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. christianus, Gr. &unr_;; cf. AS. cristen. See Christ. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. One who believes, or professes or is assumed to believe, in Jesus Christ, and the truth as taught by Him; especially, one whose inward and outward life is conformed to the doctrines of Christ. [ 1913 Webster ]

The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Acts xi. 26. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One born in a Christian country or of Christian parents, and who has not definitely becomes an adherent of an opposing system. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Eccl.) (a) One of a Christian denomination which rejects human creeds as bases of fellowship, and sectarian names. They are congregational in church government, and baptize by immersion. They are also called Disciples of Christ, and Campbellites. (b) One of a sect (called Christian Connection) of open-communion immersionists. The Bible is their only authoritative rule of faith and practice. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In this sense, often pronounced, but not by the members of the sects, [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Pertaining to Christ or his religion; as, Christian people. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Pertaining to the church; ecclesiastical; as, a Christian court. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Characteristic of Christian people; civilized; kind; kindly; gentle; beneficent. [ 1913 Webster ]

The graceful tact; the Christian art. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Christian Commission. See under Commission. --
Christian court. Same as Ecclesiastical court. --
Christian Endeavor, Young People's Society of. In various Protestant churches, a society of young people organized in each individual church to do Christian work; also, the whole body of such organizations, which are united in a corporation called the United Society of Christian Endeavor, organized in 1885. The parent society was founded in 1881 at Portland, Maine, by Rev. Francis E. Clark, a Congregational minister. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] --
Christian era, the present era, commencing with the birth of Christ. It is supposed that owing to an error of a monk (Dionysius Exiguus, d. about 556) employed to calculate the era, its commencement was fixed three or four years too late, so that 1890 should be 1893 or 1894. --
Christian name, the name given in baptism, as distinct from the family name, or surname. [ 1913 Webster ]

. The era in use in all Christian countries, which was intended to commence with the birth of Christ. The era as now established was first used by Dionysius Exiguus (died about 540), who placed the birth of Christ on the 25th of December in the year of Rome 754, which year he counted as 1 a. d. This date for Christ's birth is now generally thought to be about four years too late. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L. christianismus, Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. christianisme. ] 1. The Christian religion. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The Christian world; Christendom. [ Obs. ] Johnson [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ In sense (a) named after Christian Frederic, of Denmark; in sense (b) after Christian VII., of Denmark. ] (Min.) (a) Same as Anorthite. [ R. ] (b) See Phillipsite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. cristiente, OF. cristienté, F. chrétienté, fr. L. christianitas. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The religion of Christians; the system of doctrines and precepts taught by Christ. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Practical conformity of one's inward and outward life to the spirit of the Christian religion [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The body of Christian believers. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To Walys fled the christianitee
Of olde Britons. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act or process of converting or being converted to a true Christianity. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Christianized p. pr. & vb. n. Christianizing. ] [ Cf. F. christianiser, L. christianizare, fr. Gr. &unr_;. ] 1. To make Christian; to convert to Christianity; as, to Christianize pagans. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To imbue with or adapt to Christian principles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Christianized philosophers. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To adopt the character or belief of a Christian; to become Christian. [ 1913 Webster ]

The pagans began to Christianize. Latham. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Becoming to a Christian. [ 1913 Webster ]

A virtuous and a Christianlike conclusion. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a manner becoming the principles of the Christian religion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sufferings . . . patiently and Christianly borne. Sharp. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Christianlike. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Consonance with the doctrines of Christianity. [ Obs. ] Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A system of healing disease of mind and body which teaches that all cause and effect is mental, and that sin, sickness, and death will be destroyed by a full understanding of the Divine Principle of Jesus' teaching and healing. The system was founded by Rev. Mary Baker Glover Eddy, of Concord, N. H., in 1866, and bases its teaching on the Scriptures as understood by its adherents. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A believer in Christian Science; one who practices its teachings. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. Joseph Hall (1574 -- 1656), Bishop of Norwich, a divine eminent as a moralist. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. Any theory or system that aims to combine the teachings of Christ with the teachings of socialism in their applications to life; Christianized socialism; esp., the principles of this nature advocated by F. D. Maurice, Charles Kingsley, and others in England about 1850. -- Christian socialist. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Without faith in Christ; unchristian. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Resembling Christ in character, actions, etc. -- Christ"like`ness, n. [1913 Webster]

a. Christlike. H. Bushnell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Christ + mass. ] An annual church festival (December 25) and in some States a legal holiday, in memory of the birth of Christ, often celebrated by a particular church service, and also by special gifts, greetings, and hospitality. [ 1913 Webster ]

Christmas box. (a) A box in which presents are deposited at Christmas. (b) A present or small gratuity given to young people and servants at Christmas; a Christmas gift. --
Christmas carol, a carol sung at, or suitable for, Christmas. --
Christmas day. Same as Christmas. --
Christmas eve, the evening before Christmas. --
Christmas fern (Bot.), an evergreen North American fern (Aspidium acrostichoides), which is much used for decoration in winter. --
Christmas flower,
Christmas rose, the black hellebore, a poisonous plant of the buttercup family, which in Southern Europe often produces beautiful roselike flowers midwinter. --
Christmas tree, a small evergreen tree, set up indoors, to be decorated with bonbons, presents, etc., and illuminated on Christmas eve. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a spiny evergreen shrub of southeastern U. S. (Lycium carolinianum) having spreading branches with usually blue or mauve flowers and red berries.
Syn. -- Christmas berry, Lycium carolinianum. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. an ornamental evergreen treelike shrub of US Pacific coast (Photinia arbutifolia) having large white flowers and red berrylike fruits; often placed in genus Photinia.
Syn. -- toyon, tollon, Christmas berry, Heteromeles arbutifolia, Photinia arbutifolia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Christmas + tide time. ] The season of Christmas. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Christ + centric. ] Making Christ the center, about whom all things are grouped, as in religion or history; tending toward Christ, as the central object of thought or emotion. J. W. Chadwick. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Crist + -logy. ] A treatise on Christ; that department of theology which treats of the personality, attributes, or life of Christ. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Chrisom. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Christ + Gr. &unr_; to show. ] An appearance of Christ, as to his disciples after the crucifixion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) One of several prickly or thorny shrubs found in Palestine, especially the Paliurus aculeatus, Zizyphus Spina-Christi, and Zizyphus vulgaris. The last bears the fruit called jujube, and may be considered to have been the most readily obtainable for the Crown of Thorns. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Dechristianized p. pr. & vb. n. Dechristianizing. ] To turn from, or divest of, Christianity. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having origins in both Judaism and Christianity; of or pertaining to Christianity; as, the Judeo-Christian tradition. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖pos>n. [ L., lit., Christ's tears. ] A rich, sweet, red Neapolitan wine. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To christen wrongly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Neo- + Christianity. ] Rationalism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The popular name for a poem by Clement Clarke Moore titled A Visit from St. Nicholas, a popular poem with the theme of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) coming to bring gifts to children on Christmans eve. [ PJC ]

☞ The full text of the poem follows: T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads;
And Mama in her kerchief and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap. When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave the luster of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer!, Now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid!, On, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!!” As the dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew,
With a sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas, too. And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes -- how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word, but went staight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk,
And laying a finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose; He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight,
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!” [ PJC ]