CHRISMON

Etymology

Noun

chrismon (plural chrismons or chrisma)

A Christogram.

(paleography) A stylised siglum or character interpreted as an invocation of Christ in Merovingian and Carolingian documents.

A Christmas decoration with explicitly Christian religious symbolism.

Usage notes

In English scholarly usage, the meaning of chrismon (uncountable) is mostly limited to the Chi Rho monogram. In 18th-century German usage, by contrast, the term was expanded to include the derived cross-like sigla not only in Merovingian and Carolingian times but throughout the medieval period.

English scholarly usage rarely adopts this extended usage specifically in the context of Merovingian and Carolingian paleography.

The modern term used in American Christianity is often capitalised, as Chrismon, and uses the plural Chrismons.

Source: Wiktionary