Encountering the word in my reading again this week, and not quite remembering the dictionary definition, I looked it up again.
Webster's 1820 Dictionary:
Christ
CHRIST, noun THE ANOINTED; an appellation given to the Savior of the World, and synonymous with the Hebrew Messiah. It was a custom of antiquity to consecrate persons to the sacerdotal and regal offices by anointing them with oil.
