- present participle of christen.
christening
Americannoun
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christenings
plural
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the ceremony of baptism, especially as accompanied by the giving of a name to a child.
-
a public ceremony in which a new ship is formally named and launched.
-
an act or instance of naming or dedicating something new.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of christening
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at christen, -ing 1
Vocabulary lists containing christening
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They enact for their confused rescuer the story of the forgotten fairy at the christening, the curse and the spindle—and then go back to sleep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Bitcoin had risen nine out of the previous 11 Octobers before this year, according to Dow Jones Market Data, leading to some bulls christening the month “Uptober.”
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025
I’d recently treated myself to a deep red nonstick Bundt pan and this recipe became its christening.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2025
And pretty quickly thereafter, some slamming winter rains did their own kind of christening and Prospect Bar got washed away, to be replaced almost at once by the even more grandly named Eldoradoville.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2025
That christening gown was the finest clothing I had.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
Sunday’s private ceremony, which took place at the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, was to celebrate two family christenings, according to the PA report.
From Reuters ● Nov. 21, 2021
That weekend in October, the Roman Catholic diocese of Catania enacted a three-year ban on the ancient tradition of naming godparents at baptisms and christenings.
From New York Times ● Oct. 16, 2021
But for those involved, the cancellation or radical curtailment of life-marking events and transitions — graduation ceremonies, weddings, christenings, birthday parties and even funerals — matters a lot, as millions now know.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2020
The prime minister banned weddings and christenings when lockdown started on 23 March, and that guidance is still in effect.
From BBC ● May 29, 2020
And it struck Obinze that, a few years ago, they were attending weddings, now it was christenings and soon it would be funerals.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
