Christogram

English

Alternative forms

• christogram

Etymology

From Christo- +‎ gram, c. 1900, adopted from German Christogramm, in c. 1860 as portmanteau or abbreviation of the slightly older (1840s) and more formal compound Christusmonogramm, translating the Medieval Latin monogramma Christi. English literature before 1900 used compositional "Monogram of Christ" or the rare chrismon. First attested in the 1860s. The plural Christograms is recorded in the 1950s and also rare.

Noun

Christogram (plural Christograms)

Examples
☧ ΧΡ (KhR) ΙΗΣ (IĒS) ΙΧΘΥΣ (IKhThUS)

1. A monogram that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a Christian symbol, such as the chi-rho.
   • 1903, P. C., chapter 17, in The Open Court‎^[1], page 185:

     Had he [the creator of a Pompeiian mosaic] been a Christian, he would certainly have given expression to his faith by some definite Christian symbol, — the fish or the ΑΩ, or the Christogram.

   • 1978, W. O. Moeller, “Marks Names and Numbers”, in Boer, editor, Hommages a Maarten J. Vermaseren‎^[2], page 813:

     About thirty of these [markings on Pompeiian amphorae] appear to be either the so-called christograms […] or other monograms disturbingly reminiscent of the various christograms

See also

• ichthys

 

Anagrams

• trichograms