Baptism: Water, Naming, and a Hard First Day
Baptism is the Christian rite of admission using water. Outside religion, a baptism of fire is a difficult introduction to something new.
Baptism is the ceremony that admits a person into the Christian church, performed with water by sprinkling, pouring or full immersion. In many traditions the child is also named at the same moment. That pairing is why English says christening for a ship and a naming ceremony at once.
- A Christian rite of admission. *The baptism took place on Sunday.*
- A first and testing experience. *His baptism of fire came in the first match.*
- An initiation into something. *A baptism into the realities of office.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | baptism | An adult baptism. |
| Verb | baptise / baptize | He was baptised in the river. |
| Person | Baptist | A Baptist congregation. |
| Noun | baptistery | The church has a stone baptistery. |
| Adjective | baptismal | Baptismal vows. |
How it is used in a sentence
- She was baptised at three months old.British spelling with s; American English prefers baptized.
- The new manager had a baptism of fire.A brutal introduction, and the most common figurative use.
- Baptismal records are useful to genealogists.Parish registers often predate civil records.
Where the phrase baptism of fire comes from
- Originally a theological phrase, contrasting water with the fire of the Spirit
- Nineteenth-century French soldiers used *baptême du feu* for a first battle
- English borrowed the military sense, and it spread to any tough debut
- Today it fits new jobs, first matches and opening nights far more often than warfare
From Greek *baptizein*, to dip or immerse, which is why some churches insist on full immersion: the original verb describes putting something right under, not sprinkling it.
Baptism or christening?
Baptism is the rite itself. Christening usually refers to an infant baptism where the child is also named, and is the more informal word.
Baptise or baptize?
Both are correct. Choose s for British style and z for American, and keep it consistent through a document.