christian Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a religious person who believes Jesus is the Christ and who is a member of a Christian denomination
  2. adjective relating to or characteristic of Christianity
    • Christian rites
  3. adjective following the teachings or manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus Christ

WordNet

Chris"tian noun
Etymology
L. christianus, Gr. cf. AS. cristen. See Christ.
Definitions
  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. ✍ In this sense, often pronounced, but not by the members of the sects, kris"chan.
Chris"tian adjective
Definitions
  1. Pertaining to Christ or his religion; as, Christian people.
  2. Pertaining to the church; ecclesiastical; as, a Christian court. Blackstone.
  3. Characteristic of Christian people; civilized; kind; kindly; gentle; beneficent.
    The graceful tact; the Christian art. Tennyson.

Webster 1913