Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To baptize into a Christian church.
- v. To give a name to at baptism.
- v. To name: christened the kitten "Snowball.”
- v. To name and dedicate ceremonially: christen a ship.
- v. To use for the first time: christened the new car by going for a drive.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Earlier form of Christian .
- To baptize into the Christian church.
- Specifically To baptize under a newly conferred name, especially in infancy; baptize and name as an infant.
- In general, to name; denominate; give a name to.
- To Christianize.
- To engrave new names and marks on (stolen watches, silver plate, etc.) after obliterating the old, in order to prevent identification.
Wiktionary
- v. To perform the religious act of the baptism, to baptise.
- v. To name.
- v. obsolete To Christianize.
- v. colloquial To use for the first time.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To baptize and give a Christian name to.
- v. To give a name; to denominate.
- v. obsolete To Christianize.
- v. colloq. To use for the first time.
WordNet 3.0
- v. administer baptism to
Etymologies
- Christ + -en (Wiktionary)
- Middle English cristnen, from Old English cristnian, from cristen, Christian; see Christian. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Me, on the other hand, I like to be creative and "christen" things what I like.”
Recipe for Salmon "Kleftiko" (Σολομός Κλέφτικος) and Kleftiko: Its Modern Meaning
“As for your admonition to allow a creator to "christen" their own creation, I have no problem with that provided there is no contextual conflict with an already existing naming convention.”
Recipe for Salmon "Kleftiko" (Σολομός Κλέφτικος) and Kleftiko: Its Modern Meaning
“Sculptor David Adickes will 'christen' his latest work (it's not an unveiling because the statues are too big to veil) Thursday night at his studio.”
“Nature's Human Nature, 'owever you fake' er up an 'christen' er!”
“They made a feast, or a meal, of the supper; and some use baptism just to give a child a name, -- to "christen" it, as they say, -- in mere compliance with a custom.”
“Of particular interest is the last formula for christening, which doesn't use the word "christen" at all; instead, the minister "dedicates" the child/ren.”
“Headlines such as "On a regular test drive, you're not allowed to 'christen' the back seat" are paired with ad copy that plays into the MTF theme, with specific messages of performance, fuel efficiency, and handling.”
“However, as soon as he got alongside the captain and Mr Marline, they both shook hands with him, in order to give him a proper welcome to his new station, and the steward singing out a few minutes afterwards that dinner was ready, he was invited down into the cabin to "christen" his promotion, as it were, by partaking of that meal, in token of his being admitted to a social equality with his superior officers.”
“i thought you and john were going to "christen" your new sofa with "watching movies”
“I Do! "will be the first production to" christen ”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘christen’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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The O.U.P. Junior Dictionary Death Row
Another news story about words being removed from a dictionary before their time. See also the list of words added to the dictionary.
carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe, dwarf, elf, goblin, abbey, aisle, altar, bishop and 137 more...
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Time for a new list!
abrupt, erupt, rupture, sync, appropinquity, heterochromia, homochromatic, monochromatic, willy nilly, nitty gritty, kowtow, wonton and 455 more...
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Without a Paddle (2004)
Words from a 2004 'Without a Paddle' film.
outdo, dip, great call, nagging, TGIF, cobweb, earwax, purty, white-water, christen, teem, carny and 10 more...
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January
shard, famine, lure, gentry, connive, conspicuous, stroller, dashboard, trichinosis, sash window, condescension, sophomore and 53 more...
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Lovely Words
Lovely words... that sound beautiful, despite their meaning or in conjunction with it.
cellar, predictability, facetious, veil, intrepid, quo, advocate, veritable, cesspool, distill, barracade, vibrato and 4 more...
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kylan's Words
perhaps, nonetheless, ouchie, nevertheless, logorrhea, pomp, sesquipedalian, posit, python, queue, muraho, nimeza and 6 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for christen.
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