"Christianese" meaning in All languages combined

See Christianese on Wiktionary

Proper name [English]

Audio: En-au-Christianese.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: Etymology tree English Christian Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-iskbor. Late Latin -iscus ▲ Vulgar Latin -iscus Latin -ēnsis Old French -eisbor. Middle English -eys English -ese English Christianese From Christian + -ese. Etymology templates: {{ety|en|:af|Christian|-ese|text=+|tree=1}} Etymology tree English Christian Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-iskbor. Late Latin -iscus ▲ Vulgar Latin -iscus Latin -ēnsis Old French -eisbor. Middle English -eys English -ese English Christianese [Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from", "terms" : [ { "id" : "-eis fro", "children" : [ { "terms" : [ { "children" : [ { "keyword_abbrev" : "bor.", "keyword_label" : "Borrowed from", "terms" : [ { "id" : "adjective", "children" : [ { "terms" : [ { "id" : "pertaining to", "children" : [ { "terms" : [ { "id" : "pertaining to", "children" : [ ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-Indo-European", "term" : "*-iskos", "lang" : "ine-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-Germanic", "term" : "*-iskaz", "lang" : "gem-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-West Germanic", "term" : "*-isk", "lang" : "gmw-pro" } ], "keyword" : "bor" } ], "lang_name" : "Late Latin", "term" : "-iscus", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "la-lat" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" }, { "terms" : [ { "is_duplicate" : true, "children" : [ ], "status" : { "1" : "la", "2" : ":bor", "3" : "gmw-pro:*-isk<id:adjective>", "id" : "suf", "tree" : "1" }, "lang_name" : "Vulgar Latin", "term" : "-iscus", "lang" : "la-vul" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" }, { "terms" : [ { "children" : [ ], "lang_name" : "Latin", "term" : "-ēnsis", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "la" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Old French", "term" : "-eis", "lang" : "fro" } ], "keyword" : "bor" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Middle English", "term" : "-eys", "lang" : "enm" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "-ese", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "is_group" : true, "keyword" : "affix" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "Christianese", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" }" data-lang="en" data-title="Christianese"> From Christian + -ese. Head templates: {{en-proper noun}} Christianese
  1. (Christianity, informal, slang) The terms, catchphrases and theological jargon used by some Christians, commonly from Christian theology and influenced by popular translations of the Bible. Tags: informal, slang Synonyms: Bible-speak
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "Christian",
        "4": "-ese",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nEnglish Christian\nProto-Indo-European *-iskos\nProto-Germanic *-iskaz\nProto-West Germanic *-iskbor.\nLate Latin -iscus\n▲\nVulgar Latin -iscus\nLatin -ēnsis\nOld French -eisbor.\nMiddle English -eys\nEnglish -ese\nEnglish Christianese\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"-eis fro\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"adjective\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"pertaining to\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"pertaining to\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-iskos\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-iskaz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-isk\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Late Latin\", \"term\" : \"-iscus\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la-lat\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" }, { \"terms\" : [ { \"is_duplicate\" : true, \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : { \"1\" : \"la\", \"2\" : \":bor\", \"3\" : \"gmw-pro:*-isk<id:adjective>\", \"id\" : \"suf\", \"tree\" : \"1\" }, \"lang_name\" : \"Vulgar Latin\", \"term\" : \"-iscus\", \"lang\" : \"la-vul\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" }, { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"-ēnsis\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"-eis\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-eys\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-ese\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"Christianese\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"Christianese\">\nFrom Christian + -ese.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nEnglish Christian\nProto-Indo-European *-iskos\nProto-Germanic *-iskaz\nProto-West Germanic *-iskbor.\nLate Latin -iscus\n▲\nVulgar Latin -iscus\nLatin -ēnsis\nOld French -eisbor.\nMiddle English -eys\nEnglish -ese\nEnglish Christianese\nFrom Christian + -ese.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Christianese",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenations": [
    {
      "parts": [
        "Christ",
        "ian",
        "ese"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries referencing missing etymons",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymology texts",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with etymon",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ese",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages using etymon with no ID",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with etymology trees",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with etymon",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Christianity",
          "orig": "en:Christianity",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              27,
              39
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2003, Helen K[atharine] Bond, Seth D[aniel] Kunin, Francesca Aran Murphy, editors, Religious Studies and Theology: An Introduction, New York, N.Y.: New York University Press, →ISBN, page 500:",
          "text": "Anthony answered, 'Talking Christianese is being the Church. Don't you think Church matters?' Fred said, 'Not when you define the Church as a group having Christian experiences. You need someone to tell you what Christianity is before you can define a group's experiences as Christian.'",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              78,
              90
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Dan C. Gilliam, “Friendship: A Superhero Faith”, in God Touches: Finding Faith in the Cracks and Spaces of Life, Cincinnati, Oh.: Standard Publishing, →ISBN, page 180:",
          "text": "I often ran them off with my self-righteous attitude or scared them away with Christianese language […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              48,
              60
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Mike Minter, A Western Jesus: The Wayward Americanization of Christ and the Church, Nashville, Tenn.: B&H Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 8:",
          "text": "Reasons for departure were simply expressed in \"Christianese\": \"The Lord is leading us to fellowship elsewhere,\" \"The Spirit is moving us on,\" and so on.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The terms, catchphrases and theological jargon used by some Christians, commonly from Christian theology and influenced by popular translations of the Bible."
      ],
      "id": "en-Christianese-en-name-AZhxQf0S",
      "links": [
        [
          "Christianity",
          "Christianity"
        ],
        [
          "terms",
          "term#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "catchphrase",
          "catchphrase"
        ],
        [
          "theological",
          "theological"
        ],
        [
          "jargon",
          "jargon"
        ],
        [
          "Christians",
          "Christian#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "Christian",
          "Christian#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "theology",
          "theology"
        ],
        [
          "translation",
          "translation"
        ],
        [
          "Bible",
          "Bible"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Christianity, informal, slang) The terms, catchphrases and theological jargon used by some Christians, commonly from Christian theology and influenced by popular translations of the Bible."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "Bible-speak"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "Christianity"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-Christianese.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/16/En-au-Christianese.ogg/En-au-Christianese.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/En-au-Christianese.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Christianese"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":af",
        "3": "Christian",
        "4": "-ese",
        "text": "+",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nEnglish Christian\nProto-Indo-European *-iskos\nProto-Germanic *-iskaz\nProto-West Germanic *-iskbor.\nLate Latin -iscus\n▲\nVulgar Latin -iscus\nLatin -ēnsis\nOld French -eisbor.\nMiddle English -eys\nEnglish -ese\nEnglish Christianese\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"-eis fro\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"adjective\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"pertaining to\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"pertaining to\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-iskos\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-iskaz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-isk\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Late Latin\", \"term\" : \"-iscus\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la-lat\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" }, { \"terms\" : [ { \"is_duplicate\" : true, \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : { \"1\" : \"la\", \"2\" : \":bor\", \"3\" : \"gmw-pro:*-isk<id:adjective>\", \"id\" : \"suf\", \"tree\" : \"1\" }, \"lang_name\" : \"Vulgar Latin\", \"term\" : \"-iscus\", \"lang\" : \"la-vul\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" }, { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"-ēnsis\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"-eis\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-eys\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-ese\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"Christianese\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"Christianese\">\nFrom Christian + -ese.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nEnglish Christian\nProto-Indo-European *-iskos\nProto-Germanic *-iskaz\nProto-West Germanic *-iskbor.\nLate Latin -iscus\n▲\nVulgar Latin -iscus\nLatin -ēnsis\nOld French -eisbor.\nMiddle English -eys\nEnglish -ese\nEnglish Christianese\nFrom Christian + -ese.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Christianese",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenations": [
    {
      "parts": [
        "Christ",
        "ian",
        "ese"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries referencing missing etymons",
        "English entries with etymology texts",
        "English entries with etymology trees",
        "English entries with etymon",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English proper nouns",
        "English slang",
        "English terms suffixed with -ese",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Pages using etymon with no ID",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Pages with etymology trees",
        "Pages with etymon",
        "en:Christianity"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              27,
              39
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2003, Helen K[atharine] Bond, Seth D[aniel] Kunin, Francesca Aran Murphy, editors, Religious Studies and Theology: An Introduction, New York, N.Y.: New York University Press, →ISBN, page 500:",
          "text": "Anthony answered, 'Talking Christianese is being the Church. Don't you think Church matters?' Fred said, 'Not when you define the Church as a group having Christian experiences. You need someone to tell you what Christianity is before you can define a group's experiences as Christian.'",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              78,
              90
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Dan C. Gilliam, “Friendship: A Superhero Faith”, in God Touches: Finding Faith in the Cracks and Spaces of Life, Cincinnati, Oh.: Standard Publishing, →ISBN, page 180:",
          "text": "I often ran them off with my self-righteous attitude or scared them away with Christianese language […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              48,
              60
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Mike Minter, A Western Jesus: The Wayward Americanization of Christ and the Church, Nashville, Tenn.: B&H Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 8:",
          "text": "Reasons for departure were simply expressed in \"Christianese\": \"The Lord is leading us to fellowship elsewhere,\" \"The Spirit is moving us on,\" and so on.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The terms, catchphrases and theological jargon used by some Christians, commonly from Christian theology and influenced by popular translations of the Bible."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Christianity",
          "Christianity"
        ],
        [
          "terms",
          "term#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "catchphrase",
          "catchphrase"
        ],
        [
          "theological",
          "theological"
        ],
        [
          "jargon",
          "jargon"
        ],
        [
          "Christians",
          "Christian#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "Christian",
          "Christian#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "theology",
          "theology"
        ],
        [
          "translation",
          "translation"
        ],
        [
          "Bible",
          "Bible"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Christianity, informal, slang) The terms, catchphrases and theological jargon used by some Christians, commonly from Christian theology and influenced by popular translations of the Bible."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "Christianity"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-Christianese.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/16/En-au-Christianese.ogg/En-au-Christianese.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/En-au-Christianese.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "Bible-speak"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Christianese"
}

Download raw JSONL data for Christianese meaning in All languages combined (6.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (d6fca27 and 65e1673). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.