Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

christen

/ˈkɹɪsən/ verb

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about christen at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To perform the religious rite of baptism upon; to baptize.
The new baby was christened at the village church.
To name.
I christen this ship the Bonny Barnacle.
To Christianize.

Origin

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 Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word