from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Christian \Chris"tian\, a.
1. Pertaining to Christ or his religion; as, Christian
people.
[1913 Webster]
3. Pertaining to the church; ecclesiastical; as, a Christian
court. --Blackstone.
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4. Characteristic of Christian people; civilized; kind;
kindly; gentle; beneficent.
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The graceful tact; the Christian art. --Tennyson.
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{Christian Commission}. See under {Commission}.
{Christian court}. Same as {Ecclesiastical court}.
{Christian Endeavor, Young People's Society of}. In various
Protestant churches, a society of young people organized
in each individual church to do Christian work; also, the
whole body of such organizations, which are united in a
corporation called the United Society of Christian
Endeavor, organized in 1885. The parent society was
founded in 1881 at Portland, Maine, by Rev. Francis E.
Clark, a Congregational minister. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{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.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Christian Era \Christian Era\
The era in use in all Christian countries, which was intended
to commence with the birth of Christ. The era as now
established was first used by Dionysius Exiguus (died about
540), who placed the birth of Christ on the 25th of December
in the year of Rome 754, which year he counted as 1 a. d.
This date for Christ's birth is now generally thought to be
about four years too late.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]