noun · neutersecond declension
crismon
crismon n (genitive crismī)
Meaning
- neuterChristogram, chrismon (Chi-Rho monogram)
- neuterchrism
c. 1130: "In sabbato secundo de Quadragesima, duo minores custodes septimanarii […] debent quærere cilicium ab archiepiscopo, et debent portare in medio ecclesiæ, et facere Chrismon super illud decurrere." L. A. Murator, Antiquitates Italicae medii aevi vol. 4, col. 912.
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | crismon | crisma |
| genitive | crismī | crismōrum |
| dative | crismō | crismīs |
| accusative | crismon | crisma |
| ablative | crismō | crismīs |
| vocative | crismon | crisma |
Origins
Medieval Latin; the meaning "chrism" is attested in the 12th century, apparently by corruption of Ancient Greek χρῖσμᾰ (khrîsmă), from χρίω (khríō, “to anoint”). The meaning "Christogram" is of uncertain origin; Millin (1817) suggests derivation from χρησμός (khrēsmós, “oracle”) specifically in the instance of the "Chrismon Sancti Ambrosii" (i.e. the "oracle of St. Ambrose), an ancient Chi-Rho symbol on a marble slab in Milan cathedral, from which the term chrismon would have been transferred to the Chi-Rho symbol in general.
Descendants
- Englishchrismon
- GermanChrismon
In English words that came into English from crismon
- chrismoncrismon