χριστός

From χρῑ́ω (khrī́ō, “to rub, smear; anoint”) +‎ -τός (-tós, verbal adjective suffix), forming a verbal adjective denoting a resultant state (“fit for spreading or anointing; anointed”), often functioning semantically like a participle.^[1]

• Homophone: χρηστός (khrēstós) (Koine from the 4th century AD on)

χρῑστός • (khrīstós) m (feminine χρῑστή, neuter χρῑστόν); first/second declension

1. rubbed, smeared, coated; having undergone application by rubbing
   1. (medicine) used of substances applied by rubbing; (sc. φάρμακον (phármakon)) ointment, salve
      • 428 BCE, Euripides, Hippolytus 513–514:

        πότερα δὲ χριστὸν ἢ ποτὸν τὸ φάρμακον;

        pótera dè khristòn ḕ potòn tò phármakon?

        Is the drug an ointment or a potion?

      • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, PB 477–484:

        οὐ χριστόν, οὐδὲ πιστόν

        ou khristón, oudè pistón

        neither ointment nor potion

   2. (material) coated, smeared (of surfaces or objects)
      • Jos., Ant. 8.137:

        χριστὸν ἦν καὶ καταπεποικιλμένον χρώμασι καὶ βαφαῖς

        khristòn ên kaì katapepoikilménon khrṓmasi kaì baphaîs

        it was coated and decorated with colors and dyes

      • Theophilus, Autol. 1.12:

        τὸ χριστὸν ἡδὺ καὶ εὔχρηστον καὶ ἀκαταγέλαστόν ἐστιν… ποῖον γὰρ πλοῖον δύναται εὔχρηστον εἶναι, ἐὰν μὴ πρῶτον χρισθῇ;

        tò khristòn hēdù kaì eúkhrēston kaì akatagélastón estin… poîon gàr ploîon dúnatai eúkhrēston eînai, eàn mḕ prôton khristhēî?

        that which is anointed is sweet and serviceable… for what ship can be serviceable unless it has first been anointed?

   3. (Septuagint) anointed; describing a person consecrated by ritual anointing; translation of Hebrew משיח (māšîaḥ) (by metonymy, office-holder)
      • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Lev. 4.5:

        ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ χριστός

        ho hiereùs ho khristós

        the anointed priest

      • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, 1 Sam. 24.7:

        τὸν χριστὸν κυρίου

        tòn khristòn kuríou

        the Lord’s anointed

2. (New Testament) anointed one; semantically specialized as a messianic title
   • 90 CE – 100 CE, The Gospel of John 1:41:

     Εὑρήκαμεν τὸν Μεσσίαν — ὅ ἐστιν μεθερμηνευόμενον Χριστός

     Heurḗkamen tòn Messían — hó estin methermēneuómenon Khristós

     We have found the Messiah — which is translated Christ.

   • 90 CE – 100 CE, The Gospel of John 4:25:

     Οἶδα ὅτι Μεσσίας ἔρχεται, ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστός·

     Oîda hóti Messías érkhetai, ho legómenos Khristós;

     I know that Messiah is coming, who is called the Christ.

As a deverbal adjective with a passive, resultative sense, χριστός describes the state resulting from an act (cf. χρίω (khríō)) of being rubbed, smeared, coated, or anointed with a substance applied externally. For this reason, it is often rendered in translation with participial glosses such as “anointed,” although in Greek it functions as an adjective rather than a finite participle.

• While often synonymous with ἀλείφω (aleíphō) (“to anoint, smear”), χρίω (khríō) more frequently carries formal, ritual, or symbolic connotations, whereas ἀλείφω (aleíphō) is commonly used of everyday bodily anointing.
• Gregory of Nazianzus remarks that no doctrinal loss would result if ὁ ἠλειμμένος (ēleimménos) were temporarily used in place of ὁ χριστός (khristós) (Or. 43.68).

• (to anoint (overlapping in non-specialized contexts)): ἀλείφω (aleíphō)

• μῠρόχρῑστος (mŭrókhrīstos)
• ἔγχριστος (énkhristos)
• ἐπίχριστος (epíkhristos)
• κατάχριστος (katákhristos)
• περίχριστος (períkhristos)

• χρῖσμα (khrîsma) / χρῖμα (khrîma)

χριστός • (khristós) m (genitive χριστοῦ); second declension

1. (biblical) anointed one, translation of Hebrew משיח (māšîaḥ)
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, 1 Sam. 24.7:

     τὸν χριστὸν κυρίου

     tòn khristòn kuríou

     the Lord’s anointed

   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Psalms 104.15:

     μὴ ἅψησθε τῶν χριστῶν μου

     mḕ hápsēsthe tôn khristôn mou

     do not touch my anointed ones

2. (Judaism, Christianity) Messiah
   • 80 CE – 90 CE, The Gospel of Luke 2:26:

     τὸν χριστὸν κυρίου

     tòn khristòn kuríou

     the Lord’s Christ

3. (Christianity) Jesus Christ

As a noun, χριστός is a substantivized use of the adjective, denoting “one who is anointed.” In the Septuagint, it is used to translate Hebrew משיח (māšîaḥ), referring to individuals formally set apart by anointing—most commonly kings and priests, and occasionally prophets. By metonymy, the term comes to denote not merely the act of anointing but the status or office conferred by that act. In later Jewish and early Christian usage, this development becomes increasingly specialized, denoting the expected eschatological deliverer (the Messiah). When χριστός functions as a fixed title or as a proper name referring specifically to Jesus, this usage is treated under Χριστός (Khristós).

• → Latin: chrīstus

• “χριστός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “χριστός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• χριστός in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001), A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• G5547 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• χριστός, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011