christogram

Etymology

From Christo- + gram, c. 1900, adopted from German Christogramm, in c. 1860 as portmanteau or abbreviation of the slightly older (1840s) and more formal compound Christusmonogramm, translating the Medieval Latin monogramma Christi. English literature before 1900 used compositional "Monogram of Christ" or the rare chrismon. First attested in the 1860s. The plural Christograms is recorded in the 1950s and also rare.

Why this word is great

CHRISTOGRAM — [Noun] A monogram forming an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a Christian symbol, such as the chi-rho. From Christo- (relating to Christ) + -gram (something written or drawn), adopted from German Christogramm (c. 1860), itself a portmanteau of Christusmonogramm, translating Medieval Latin monogramma Christi. Unlike "chrismon" (a specific subset, often the chi-rho alone) or the generic "monogram" (any interlaced initials), a Christogram is sacred shorthand, a compression of devotion into cipher. It is the chi-rho etched into a catacomb wall, the IHS embroidered on altar cloths, the IXΘYΣ scratched onto ancient amulets—letters as vessels, carrying the weight of a name too vast to speak aloud.

noun

A monogram that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a Christian symbol, such as the chi-rho.“Had he [the creator of a Pompeiian mosaic] been a Christian, he would certainly have given expression to his faith by some definite Christian symbol, — the fish or the ΑΩ, or the Christogram.”