Christendom

noun

Chris·​ten·​dom ˈkri-sᵊn-dəm How to pronounce Christendom (audio)
1
2
: the part of the world in which Christianity prevails

Examples of Christendom in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web What made the occasion controversial, indeed historic, was the Church's acceptance of Gene Robinson as the first openly-gay bishop in all of Christendom. Ted Koppel, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2024 The Bible and Apocrypha are full of stories of those tempted by Satan’s natural world to leave behind Christendom. Lorraine Berry, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Sep. 2023 For the Vatican and much of medieval Christendom, the realms of the Mongols were a source of fascination. Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 6 Sep. 2023 In the 1978 book The Tartar Khan’s Englishman, Gabriel Ronay suggests he was executed as a traitor to Christendom. Nicholas Morton, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 July 2023 Well aware that King Sobieski and his army of Polish hussars had saved both Europe and Christendom, the pope awarded the painter the title Knight Commander with Star of the Order of Pius IX. Danuta Hamlin, Fox News, 17 June 2023 And thought how, as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom Had rolled along The unbroken song Of peace on earth, good-will to men! Annie Lane, cleveland, 25 Dec. 2022 Suleyman the Magnificent had his hand on Christendom’s throat. Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 9 Dec. 2022 Megan Fox is the greatest threat to Christendom since someone made a mediocre adaptation of a fantasy book. Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 1 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Christendom.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English cristendom, from Old English cristendōm, from cristen

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of Christendom was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near Christendom

Cite this Entry

“Christendom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Christendom. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

Christendom

noun
Chris·​ten·​dom ˈkris-ᵊn-dəm How to pronounce Christendom (audio)
1
: the entire body of Christians
2
: the part of the world where Christianity is most common
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