The story
- Proto-Indo-European*gʰer-
- Proto-Indo-European*gʰrey-
- Ancient Greekχρίω (khríō)
- Ancient Greekχρῑστός (khrīstós)
- Biblical Hebrewמָשִׁיחַ (mašīaḥ)
- Aramaicܡܫܺܝܚܳܐ (m'šīḥāʿ)
- Ancient GreekΧρῑστός (Khrīstós)
- LatinChrīstus
- Old EnglishCrist
- Middle EnglishCrist
- English todayChrist
From Middle English Crist, from Old English Crist, from Latin Chrīst(us), from Ancient Greek Χρῑστός (Khrīstós), proper noun use of χρῑστός (khrīstós, “[the] anointed [one]”), a semantic loan of Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (māšīaḥ, “anointed”) or the Aramaic equivalent (whence ultimately also English messiah, also via Latin, Greek). Compare grime for the Proto-Indo-European root, *gʰr-ey- (“to rub, smear; to anoint”); further related to ghee.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.