pre-Christian

adjective

Pertaining to the time before the arrival of Christianity, particularly in Western Europe.

“pre-Christian and pre-Abrahamic traditions”

OriginEnglish Christian ← Middle English pre- ← Latin prae- →
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Meanings

adjectivepre-Christian (not comparable)
  1. not comparablePertaining to the time before the arrival of Christianity, particularly in Western Europe.

    pre-Christian and pre-Abrahamic traditions

nounpre-Christian (plural pre-Christians)

plural pre-Christians

  1. ChristianityA person who is not yet a Christian, regarded as a potential convert.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
  4. Proto-Italic*prai
  5. Proto-Italic*prai-
  6. Latinprae-
  7. Middle Englishpre-
  8. Englishpre-
  9. EnglishChristian
  10. Englishpre-Christian

From pre- + Christian.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan precristià
  • precristiàbefore the arrival of Christianity
Danish førkristen
  • førkristenbefore the arrival of Christianity
Dutch voorchristelijk
  • voorchristelijkbefore the arrival of Christianity
Finnish esikristillinen
  • esikristillinenbefore the arrival of Christianity
French préchrétien
  • préchrétienbefore the arrival of Christianity
German vorchristlich
  • vorchristlichbefore the arrival of Christianity
Hungarian kereszténység előtti
  • kereszténység előttibefore the arrival of Christianity
Icelandic forkristinn
  • forkristinnbefore the arrival of Christianity
Irish réamh-Chríostaí
  • réamh-Chríostaíbefore the arrival of Christianity
Italian precristiano
  • precristianobefore the arrival of Christianity
Norwegian Bokmål førkristen
  • førkristenbefore the arrival of Christianity
Polish przedchrześcijański
  • przedchrześcijańskibefore the arrival of Christianity
Russian дохристиа́нский
  • дохристиа́нский (doxristiánskij)before the arrival of Christianity
Spanish precristiano
  • precristianobefore the arrival of Christianity
Swedish förkristen
  • förkristenbefore the arrival of Christianity
Ukrainian дохристия́нський
  • дохристия́нський (doxrystyjánsʹkyj)before the arrival of Christianity
Cite this entry
APA

pre-Christian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre-Christian

MLA

“pre-Christian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre-Christian. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pre-Christian,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre-Christian.

Source: pre-Christian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.