CHRISTIAN

Pronunciation (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Christian mean? 

• CHRISTIAN (noun)
  The noun CHRISTIAN has 1 sense:

1. a religious person who believes Jesus is the Christ and who is a member of a Christian denomination

  Familiarity information: CHRISTIAN used as a noun is very rare.

• CHRISTIAN (adjective)
  The adjective CHRISTIAN has 2 senses:

1. relating to or characteristic of Christianity
2. following the teachings or manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus Christ

  Familiarity information: CHRISTIAN used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHRISTIAN (noun)

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Christian" is a kind of...):

religious person (a person who manifests devotion to a deity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Christian"):

Apostelic Father; Apostle (any important early teacher of Christianity or a Christian missionary to a people)

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

Nazarene (an early name for any Christian)

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)

Melchite; Melkite (an Orthodox Christian or Uniate Christian belonging to the patriarchate of Alexandria or Antioch or Jerusalem)

communicant (a person entitled to receive Communion)

born-again Christian (a Christian who has experienced a dramatic conversion to faith in Jesus)

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

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

Copt (a member of the Coptic Church)

Adventist; Second Adventist (a member of Christian denomination that expects the imminent advent of Christ)

gentile (a Christian)

gentile; goy; non-Jew (in this sense 'gentile' denotes a Christian as contrasted with a Jew; 'goy' is a derogatory word for Christians used by Jews)

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)

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

Instance hyponyms:

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)

Holonyms ("Christian" is a member of...):

Christian church; church (one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship)

• CHRISTIAN (adjective)

Meaning:

Relating to or characteristic of Christianity

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

Christian rites

Domain category:

faith; religion; religious belief (a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny)

Pertainym:

Christianity (a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior)

Meaning:

Following the teachings or manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus Christ

Similar:

christianly (becoming to or like a Christian)

christlike; christly (resembling or showing the spirit of Christ)

Antonym:

unchristian (not of a Christian faith)