Christians

==Etymology==
The Greek word {{lang|grc|Χριστιανός}} (''Christianos''), meaning "follower of Christ", comes from {{lang|grc|Χριστός}} (''Christos''), meaning "[[anointing|anointed one]]",<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Christ Christ] at Etymology Online</ref> with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership.<ref>[[#Bickerman-1949|Bickerman, 1949]] p. 147, "All these Greek terms, formed with the Latin suffix ''-ianus'', exactly as the Latin words of the same derivation, express the idea that the men or things referred to, belong to the person to whose name the suffix is added."<br />p. 145, "In Latin this suffix produced proper names of the type ''Marcianus'' and, on the other hand, derivatives from the name of a person, which referred to his belongings, like ''fundus Narcissianus'', or, by extension, to his adherents, ''Ciceroniani''."</ref> In the [[Greek language|Greek]] [[Septuagint]], ''christos'' was used to translate the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] מָשִׁיחַ (''Mašíaḥ'', [[messiah]]), meaning "[one who is] anointed".<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=messiah Messiah] at Etymology Online</ref> In other European languages, equivalent words to Christian are likewise derived from the Greek, such as ''Chrétien'' in French and ''Cristiano'' in Spanish.

The abbreviations ''Xian'' and ''Xtian'' (and similarly formed other parts of speech) have been used since at least the 17th century: ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' shows a 1634 use of ''Xtianity'' and ''Xian'' is seen in a 1634–38 diary.<ref name="oed-x">{{Cite encyclopedia |chapter=X, n. 10 |date=March 2016 |title=OED Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://oed.com/view/Entry/230945 |access-date=8 January 2019 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fTvQBBb5-skC&q=xian%20christian&pg=PA4 |title=The Diary of Samuel Rogers, 1634–1638 |date=2004 |publisher=Boydell Press |isbn=9781843830436 |page=4 |last1=Rogers |first1=Samuel|editor1-last=Webster|editor1-first=Tom|editor2-last=Shipps|editor2-first=Kenneth W. |quote=Throughout his diary, Rogers abbreviates 'Christ' to 'X' and the same is true of 'Christian' ('Xian'), 'Antichrist' ('AntiX') and related words. |access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref> The word ''[[Xmas]]'' uses a similar contraction.