christen
verb /ˈkrɪsn/
/ˈkrɪsn/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they christen | /ˈkrɪsn/ /ˈkrɪsn/ |
| he / she / it christens | /ˈkrɪsnz/ /ˈkrɪsnz/ |
| past simple christened | /ˈkrɪsnd/ /ˈkrɪsnd/ |
| past participle christened | /ˈkrɪsnd/ /ˈkrɪsnd/ |
| -ing form christening | /ˈkrɪsnɪŋ/ /ˈkrɪsnɪŋ/ |
- to give a name to a baby at his or her baptism to welcome him or her into the Christian Church
- christen somebody + noun The child was christened Mary.
- christen somebody Did you have your children christened?
- christen somebody/something (+ noun) to give a name to somebody/something
- This area has been christened ‘Britain's last wilderness’.
- They christened the boat ‘Oceania’.
- christen something (informal) to use something for the first time
- Let’s have a drink to christen our new wine glasses.
Word OriginOld English crīstnian ‘make Christian’, from crīsten ‘Christian’, from Latin Christianus, from Christus ‘Christ’.