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In the Christmas Good Word "Christ" it states that Jesus was born in the year 0. I would like to point out that there was no year 0. The year 1 BC was immediately followed by the year 1 AD. The concept of zero was not understood at that time.

Merry Christmas! Taking a breather from the morning activities--on to round 2 at the in-laws...

I have zero to add to the above post but this...http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk ... /Zero.html

• Christ •

Pronunciation: kraist • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, proper

Meaning: The Western European epithet used in referring to Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem in the year 0, a birth Christians throughout the world celebrate today.

Notes: Jesus Christ (Jesus, the Anointed) is believed by millions to be the Son of God, the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament. Millions of others believe him to be the prophet of God. Everyone agrees that Christ is the source of the Christian doctrine that has survived and is growing today. This name is the eponym of Christian, and its noun, Christianity, referring both to the doctrine preached by Christ and the collective body of all believers in that doctrine, as in world Christianity (or Christendom).

In Play: While Christians take Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Qur'an accepts him as a prophet on a level with Moses. Jews do not accept Christ as the Messiah. So, Christians, Muslims, and Jews acknowledge the same God but differ as to the status attributed to Christ in their respective religions.

Word History: The history of the epithet Christ is itself a reflection of Jesus' humble origins. The original root from which Christ is derived was the humble PIE root *ghrei- "to rub". Contracted to *ghri- and suffixed with -s it became Germanic *gris- "frighten" which underlies grisly. Suffixed with -m, it gave us grime from Old Germanic *grim "smear." In Greek it emerges as khriein "to anoint," whose past participle, khristos "anointed" has been adopted in the West as the epithet for Jesus of Nazareth.

Very good point, George!

This name is the eponym of Christian, and its noun, Christianity, referring both to the doctrine preached by Christ and the collective body of all believers in that doctrine, as in world Christianity (or Christendom).

Or, minus the unconscious slant in our language, Christianism.

Happy belated Xmas to all!

The original root from which Christ is derived was the humble PIE root *ghrei- "to rub".

Another, related word that descends from PIE ghrēi-:

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

chrism

PRONUNCIATION: krĭz'əm
NOUN: Ecclesiastical 1. A consecrated mixture of oil and balsam, used for anointing in church sacraments such as baptism and confirmation. Also called holy oil. 2. A sacramental anointing, especially upon confirmation into the Eastern Orthodox Church.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English crisme, chrism, chrisom, from Old English crisma, from Latin chrīsma, from Greek khrīsma, an anointing, from khrīein, to anoint. See ghrēi- in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS: chris' mal (krĭz'məl) —ADJECTIVE

how interesting I'd heard that anoint sometimes means to rub in, not a bad idea to do with an unguent, but the closest I got was smear

a·noint (-noint)
tr.v. a·noint·ed, a·noint·ing, a·noints
1. To apply oil, ointment, or a similar substance to.
2. To put oil on during a religious ceremony as a sign of sanctification or consecration.
3. To choose by or as if by divine intervention.



[Middle English enointen, from Old French enoint, past participle of enoindre, from Latin inunguere, innct- : in-, on; see in-2 + unguere, to smear.]



a·nointer n.
a·nointment n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

And Dr. G I noted the humble PIE allusion

mark anointed Bailey

What's this? Is someone eating humble PIE?