Third-person singular present tense: to give a Christian name to someone during a baptism ceremony, or to name and dedicate something.
From Old English 'cristnian' (to make Christian, baptize) + '-s' (third person singular). The root comes from Latin 'Christianus' (Christian), ultimately from Greek 'Christos' (the anointed one).
The verb 'christen' still retains its ancient double meaning—you can christen a baby at church AND christen a ship by breaking champagne on it, both are 'making Christian' or 'making official.'
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