WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Chris"tian
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [L. christianus, Gr. cristen. See Christ.]
Definition : 1. One who believes, or professes or is assumed to believe, in Jesus Christ, and the truth as taught by Him; especially, one whose inward and outward life is conformed to the doctrines of Christ. The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Acts xi. 26.

2. One born in a Christian country or of Christian parents, and who has not definitely becomes an adherent of an opposing system.

3. (Eccl.) (a) One of a Christian denomination which rejects human creeds as bases of fellowship, and sectarian names. They are congregational in church government, and baptize by immersion. They are also called Disciples of Christ, and Campbellites. (b) One of a sect (called Christian Connection) of open-communion immersionists. The Bible is their only authoritative rule of faith and practice.

Note: In this sense, often pronounced, but not by the members of the sects, kris"chan.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Chris"tian
Part of Speech : a.
Definition : 1. Pertaining to Christ or his religion; as, Christian people.

3. Pertaining to the church; ecclesiastical; as, a Christian court. Blackstone.

4. Characteristic of Christian people; civilized; kind; kindly; gentle; beneficent. The graceful tact; the Christian art. Tennyson. Christian Commission. See under Commission. -- Christian court. Same as Ecclesiastical court. -- Christian era, the present era, commencing with the birth of Christ. It is supposed that owing to an error of a monk (Dionysius Exiguus, d. about 556) employed to calculate the era, its commencement was fixed three or four years too late, so that 1890 should be 1893 or 1894. -- Christian name, the name given in baptism, as distinct from the family name, or surname.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913