Christian In other languages

Christian In other languages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


In other European languages the word is similar, such as Chrétien in French and Cristiano in Spanish. The Chinese word is 基督徒 (pinyin: jīdū tú), literally "Christ follower."

As the identification of the Messiah with Jesus is not accepted within Judaism, in Hebrew Christians are called Notzrim ("Nazarenes"), originally derived from the fact that Jesus came from the city of Nazareth in Israel.[9] However, Messianic Jews are referred to in modern Hebrew as יהודים משיחיים (Yehudim Meshihi'im).

Among Arabs (whether Christians, Muslims or belonging to other faiths), as well as in other languages influenced by the Arabic language (mainly in Muslim cultures influenced by Arabic as the liturgical language of Islam), two words are commonly used for Christians: Nasrani (نصراني), and Masihi (مسيحي) meaning followers of the Messiah.[10][11] Where there is a distinction, Nasrani refers to people from a Christian culture and Masihi means those with a religious faith in Jesus.[12] In some countries Nasrani tends to be used generically for non-Muslim white people.[12] Another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in a political context, is Salibi; this refers to Crusaders and has negative connotations.[11][13]

The word Nasrani is generally understood to be derived from Nazareth[10] through the Syriac (Aramaic). In some areas of the Arab world, tradition holds that it derives from nasr ("victory"), and means "people of victory" in reference either to early successes of the Christian religion or to the initial Christian Ethiopian support for Muhammad during his early conflicts in Arabia.[citation needed] Nasrani is also sometimes said to derive from ansar,[citation needed] which means "disciple". The Syrian Malabar Nasrani or Nasranee people are a Christian ethno-religious group from Kerala, India, possibly Jewish in ethnic origin.