Christian

/ˈkrɪstʃən/

/ˈkrɪstjən/

Other forms: Christians

A Christian is someone whose religious beliefs are based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. A Christian often attends church on Sundays and reads the Bible.

People who describe themselves as Christian can have many differing beliefs and ways of living a spiritual life. What every Christian has in common is a belief that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, or savior of humans. The earliest form of the word Christian was the Old English Cristen, which comes from the Greek word khristos, or "the anointed," itself a translation of the Hebrew mashiah, or "messiah."

Definitions of Christian

1. noun

   a religious person who believes Jesus is the Christ and who is a member of a Christian denomination
   examples:

   Timothy

   a disciple of Saint Paul who became the leader of the Christian community at Ephesus

   Titus

   a Greek disciple and helper of Saint Paul

   types:

   Adventist, Second Adventist

   a member of Christian denomination that expects the imminent advent of Christ

   gentile

   a Christian

   gentile, goy, non-Jew

   a Christian as contrasted with a Jew

   Protestant

   an adherent of Protestantism

   Friend, Quaker

   a member of the Religious Society of Friends founded by George Fox (the Friends have never called themselves Quakers)

   Catholic

   a member of a Catholic church

   Old Catholic

   a member of the church formed in the 19th century by German Catholics who refused to accept the infallibility of the Pope

   Copt

   a member of the Coptic Church

   Apostle

   (New Testament) one of the original 12 disciples chosen by Christ to preach his gospel

   Apostelic Father, Apostle

   any important early teacher of Christianity or a Christian missionary to a people

   arianist

   an adherent of Arianism (the belief that Jesus Christ was not truly God)

   born-again Christian

   a Christian who has experienced a dramatic conversion to faith in Jesus

   communicant

   a person entitled to receive Communion

   Melchite, Melkite

   an Orthodox Christian or Uniate Christian belonging to the patriarchate of Alexandria or Antioch or Jerusalem

   Melchite, Melkite

   an eastern Christian in Egypt or Syria who adheres to the Orthodox faith as defined by the council of Chalcedon in 451 and as accepted by the Byzantine emperor

   Nazarene

   an early name for any Christian

   Shaker

   a member of Christian group practicing celibacy and communal living and common possession of property and separation from the world

   Tractarian

   a follower of Tractarianism and supporter of the Oxford movement (which was expounded in pamphlets called `Tracts for the Times')

   WASP, white Anglo-Saxon Protestant

   a white person of Anglo-Saxon ancestry who belongs to a Protestant denomination

   Anabaptist

   adherent of Anabaptism

   Christian Scientist

   a member of the Protestant church founded in the United States by Mary Baker Eddy

   Anglican Catholic

   a member of the Anglican Church who emphasizes its Catholic character

   Greek Catholic

   a member of the Greek Orthodox Church

   Roman Catholic

   a member of the Roman Catholic Church

   Uniat, Uniate, Uniate Christian

   a member of the Uniat Church

   Baptist

   follower of Baptistic doctrines

   Congregationalist

   a member of the Congregational Church

   Nonconformist, chapelgoer

   a Protestant in England who is not a member of the Church of England

   Anglican

   a Protestant who is a follower of Anglicanism

   Episcopalian

   a member of the Episcopal church

   fundamentalist

   a supporter of fundamentalism

   Jehovah's Witness

   believer in imminent approach of the millennium; practitioner of active evangelism

   Latter-Day Saint, Mormon

   a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

   Methodist

   a follower of Wesleyanism as practiced by the Methodist Church

   Orangeman

   a member of a society founded in Ireland in 1795 to uphold Protestantism and the British sovereign

   Pentecostal, Pentecostalist

   any member of a Pentecostal religious body

   Bishop of Rome, Catholic Pope, Holy Father, Roman Catholic Pope, Vicar of Christ, pontiff, pope

   the head of the Roman Catholic Church

   Presbyterian

   a follower of Calvinism as taught in the Presbyterian Church

   Puritan

   a member of a group of English Protestants who in the 16th and 17th centuries thought that the Protestant Reformation under Elizabeth was incomplete and advocated the simplification and regulation of forms of worship

   type of:

   religious person

   a person who manifests devotion to a deity
2. adjective

   relating to or characteristic of Christianity
   “Christian rites”