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First attested in the manuscripts of French Catholic missionary Jean Basset's (c. 1662–1707) Classical Chinese translation of the New Testament, and possibly abbreviated from the pre-existing translation 基利斯督. Although Basset's manuscripts were not widely circulated, they were consulted by British Protestant missionary Robert Morrison, who used 基督 in his own Chinese translations of the Bible in the early 19th century. The term 基督 subsequently gained popularity and replaced other tetrasyllabic translations of "Christ" (e.g. 基利斯督) in the mid-19th century.
Imported by Jesuit scribes from Jesuit translations into Chinese, coined originally in Chinese texts as an abbreviation of transcription 基利斯督(originally Kirishito in Japanese phonology, later shifting in Japanese to Kirisuto). First attested in the 1590s.
This spelling was standard until roughly the mid-Meiji era (1890s), since which time the katakana spelling キリスト has become more common.
Definitions
For pronunciation and definitions of 基督 – see the following entry.