What does chrisom mean?
A chrisom is a white cloth used in the historic Christian baptismal rite, particularly in England. The word derives from chrism, the consecrated oil blended with balm used for anointing, because the cloth itself was anointed with this oil and laid upon an infant immediately after baptism. The child traditionally wore or was associated with the chrisom until the mother's churching — her ceremonial return to church after childbirth — or until a month had passed since the baptism. Over time the term took on a poignant secondary meaning: parish registers from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries frequently recorded burials of 'chrisom children,' infants who died within their first month. Today the word survives almost exclusively in historical, liturgical, and genealogical contexts, where it offers scholars a vivid window into early modern religious practice and infant mortality.
A white cloth, formerly anointed with consecrated chrism, placed on a newly baptized infant and worn until the mother's churching or the lapse of a month.
"The baptismal roll listed each child alongside a note of whether the chrisom had been returned."
Chiefly historical; found in records of the Church of England before and after the Reformation.
(In the phrase 'chrisom child') An infant who died within a month of being baptized.
"The sexton's book recorded three chrisoms buried that winter."
Used almost exclusively in the plural or in reference to historical parish registers.
The regular plural applies both to the cloths and, in historical register books, to infants recorded as chrisom children.
"The ledger recorded several chrisoms among that year's burials."
In old English parish registers, 'chrisom' became a grim euphemism: a 'chrisom child' was one who died within a month of baptism — which is why the word survives today mostly in genealogists' notes.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chrisom
The word chrisom comes from Middle English, formed by alteration of the earlier form creme/crisme under the influence of related terms such as chrisom-cloth, ultimately from Latin chrisma, meaning consecrated ointment, itself borrowed from Greek khrisma, derived from the verb khriein, 'to anoint.' It entered English through Old English crisma, reflecting the deep roots of chrism in Western Christian liturgy. Its extended sense referring to infants who died shortly after baptism developed in English parish usage during the early modern period.
Related word forms
How chrisom is actually used
An archaic and largely historical term, encountered mainly in older church records, genealogy, and discussions of pre-Reformation Anglican liturgy. It carries no modern everyday usage, though it retains scholarly and antiquarian interest.
Easily confused with chrisom
Chrism is the consecrated anointing oil itself, whereas a chrisom is the white cloth associated with baptism that originally took its name from being anointed with that oil.