christen
/ˈkɹɪsən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.63 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The new baby was christened at the village church."
- "Lewis the 9th of France, being asked by vvhat ſtile he vvould be called, ſaid, Levvis of Poyſſy. […] [S]aid he, I deſire to be called Levvis of Poyſſy, becauſe there I got the moſt glorious victory that ever I had; For there I overcame the Divell: meaning that he vvas chriſtned there."
- "I christen this ship the Bonny Barnacle."
- "1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth Christen the thing what you will."
- "The order to rename the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk – christened four years ago – is unusual but is in line with the White House mandate to reverse a number of military initiatives by Democratic presidents."
- "I must tell you that christianity hath new christened it"
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.