Christian

KRIS-chuhn/ˈkɹɪʃt͡ʃən/

10 meanings of Christian

1
of the faithadjective
Of, relating to, or resembling Christianity or its followers.
Christian values shaped much of European art and literature.
The village still keeps several old Christian traditions at Easter.
UsageWritten with a capital C. Very Christian of you or a more Christian response usually means kind, not religious.
2
nouncountable
A person who believes in Jesus Christ and follows Christianity and its teachings.
He became a Christian after years of searching for faith.
Christians around the world observe Easter each spring.
UsageWritten with a capital C: a Christian, Christians.
Note
As a noun it often stands in pairs that set one faith against another, as when Shakespeare's Shylock weighs Jew against Christian in The Merchant of Venice.
3
adjective
Of, relating to, or resembling Jesus Christ and his example.
Christian compassion, drawn directly from the example of Jesus, guided her work.
The sermon called for a Christian humility, modeled on Jesus washing his disciples' feet.
SimilarChristlike
Note
This sense keeps closest to the word's parts, Christ plus -ian: it concerns Christ himself rather than the church or its members. In practice the line from the broader adjective is thin. Christian compassion can mean compassion like Christ's or compassion as Christians practice it, and only context decides which.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Christian can be analysed into the parts Christ and -ian; this is a surface analysis rather than its historical borrowing route. en.wiktionary.org
Christian has a distinct adjective sense relating directly to Jesus Christ. en.wiktionary.org

Less common meanings

4
adjective
Kind, charitable, and morally good; used approvingly of a person's conduct.
Sharing your last meal with a stranger is a truly Christian act.
He told her it wasn't very Christian to hold such a bitter grudge.
UsageMostly in set frames: very Christian of you, a Christian act, and often as a rebuke: not very Christian, hardly Christian.
Similarkind, charitable, decent, generous, compassionate
Oppositeunkind, uncharitable, mean, spiteful
Note
The word works as a rebuke as readily as a compliment. Susan Ferrier's The Inheritance (1824) doubts it would be "a very Christian act" to tell tiresome people so, and David W. Belisle's The American Family Robinson calls leaving two men to perish "hardly a Christian act."
5
a Protestantnounnonstandardcountable
A Protestant follower of Christianity, as distinguished from a Catholic.
Her grandmother still asked whether a new neighbor was a Christian or a Catholic, by which she meant Protestant or Catholic.
Local Christians and Catholics maintained separate schools for generations.
UsageMost people count Catholics as Christians, so Christians and Catholics can sound excluding; Protestant says the meaning clearly.
SimilarProtestant
Note
The narrowed sense lives in a pairing, Christians and Catholics, used in writing on Hong Kong, South Korea and Igbo Land as if the two were separate groups. Standard usage counts Catholics among Christians, so the pairing can read as exclusion.
6
adjectivenonstandard
Of, relating to, or typical of Protestant churches, beliefs, or believers, as distinguished from Catholic ones.
In the town's old way of speaking, a Christian school meant a Protestant one, and Catholic families sent their children elsewhere.
He was buried with Christian rites rather than Catholic ones.
UsageUsually set against Catholic; to be clear, say Protestant instead.
SimilarProtestant
Note
The adjective follows the Protestant noun into the same pairing: Christian and Catholic congregations, Christian churches beside Catholic ones. The split is felt from the Catholic side too. Asked whether they are Christian, some Catholics answer "No. I am Catholic," because they hear the question as one about a Protestant way of accepting Christ.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Some Catholics, when asked whether they are Christian, reply with the exact words “No. I am Catholic.” en.wiktionary.org
Some Catholics interpret the question as asking about a specifically Protestant experience of accepting Christ. en.wiktionary.org
7
nounobsoleteEngland
A person from Europe, typically though not always one who practiced the Christian faith.
Note
An English usage from a time when being European and being Christian were treated as the same thing, so the word could name any European whatever his faith. In older texts, read it as a mark of origin, because a modern reader would take it as the religious sense and misjudge the writer's meaning.
8
proper noun
A man's given name, of Ancient Greek origin, that has been in use in England since the 1100s.
9
proper noun
A surname that originated as a patronymic.
10
proper noun
A female given name, from Ancient Greek, used in medieval times and rare today.

Practice

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Origin

This comes through Middle English Cristien and Old French chrestien from Latin Chrīstiānus, formed on Chrīstus (from Greek Khrīstós, "Christ, anointed one") with the suffix -iānus; Greek Khrīstiānós has the same Latin ending. Cretin most likely comes from the same word, and by surface analysis it is Christ + -ian.

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Christian comes through Middle English Cristien and Old French chrestien from Latin Chrīstiānus. en.wiktionary.org
Khrīstiānós is built on Khrīstós, meaning Christ or anointed one, plus a suffix. en.wiktionary.org
Christian can be analyzed on the surface as Christ + -ian. en.wiktionary.org