English Reference

Word

christopher

Phoneticschristo·pher

/ˈkɹɪstəfɝ/

Definitions

01given name

A1

n. a common first name for a man or boy.

n. A masculine given name, derived from the Greek name Christophoros.

“My friend Christopher usually asks people to call him Chris.”

“Christopher is a traditional name that has remained popular in various forms across many European languages for centuries.”

Synonyms

02surname

B2

n. a family name or last name.

n. A surname of patronymic origin, derived from the given name of an ancestor.

“The author of the book is a woman named Sarah Christopher.”

“The legal documents were signed by a Mr. Christopher, who represented the estate during the probate hearings.”

Etymology

From Late Latin Christophorus, from Koine Greek Χρῑστόφορος (Khrīstóphoros, “carrier of Christ”), from Ancient Greek Χριστός (Khristós, “Christ”) + φόρος (phóros, “carrier, bearer”), from φέρειν (phérein, “to carry, to bear”) + -ος (-os, “-er: forming agent nouns”), from the legend of Saint Christopher carrying the infant Jesus across a river.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Common
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/christopher

English Reference