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Glite Dictionary
Christ Child

Christ Child

3 6.5
A baby Jesus shown in nativity scenes and Christian art
  • proper noun
: Niño Jesús
  • Before them stood a statue of the Christ child swathed in his mother's arms.
  • Mary with the Christ Child

Soon after the Christ child is born and the magi come and all that sort of stuff, Herod tries to kill him, right?

Examples

  • The Madonna held the Christ Child in her arms.

  • All the angels rejoiced at the coming of the Christ Child.

  • A statue of the Christ Child.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • All the angels rejoiced at the coming of the Christ child.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • This is the moment where three wise men go to visit the newborn Christ child and present gifts to him as the King of Kings.

  • God the Father and the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove hover above the Christ Child.

    Academic text (2007)

  • On another occasion, a popish priest had a vision of the Virgin Mary in glory with the Christ child in her arms.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The seated Virgin holds the orb in one hand (from which a flower protrudes) and the Christ Child in the other.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Like the Daga Estifanos panel, the composition is divided into two registers: in the upper is Mary nursing the Christ Child, and in the severely damaged lower register are the Twelve Apostles.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Our gifts celebrate the birthday of an infant, the Christ Child, born in Bethlehem nearly 2,000 years ago.

Synonyms

Jesus
vsChrist Child
∞ 1.0

A man Christians believe is the Son of God who teaches love and forgiveness

is the infant portrayal rather than the adult life and public teachings
Christ
vsChrist Child
∞ 3.5

Title for Jesus whom Christians accept as their savior and the Son of God

is the infant portrayal rather than a religious title about being the promised savior
Jesus Christ
vsChrist Child
223 3.0

A man Christians believe is God's son whose teachings started Christianity

is the infant depiction shown in religious art and nativity scenes

Surface Forms

Christ Child main

Morphology

Christ + child

The meaning is directly compositional: 'Christ' = Jesus and 'child' = infant, so the phrase denotes Jesus as a child/infant. This mapping is cross-linguistically common (e.g. 'Niño Jesús', 'Enfant Jésus') and would be evident to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words and basic cultural context.

Etymology

Christ Child comes from the simple picture of Mary holding the baby Christ in the manger after his birth. So today Christ Child means 'the infant Jesus', especially in church art and nativity scenes.