When to use the word “christen”(verb)?
I learned that the word “christen” means to give a person a name based on a characteristic that they have. And I think it has the same meaning as the verb “name”. I wonder if there’s any situation that “christen” would be preferred ?(or is it more commonly used in literature?)
Thanks for reading my question!

Question

Answer

It does mean to name. Literally, when a person in a Christian country joins a Christian church, there is a ceremony in which they are given a Christian name i.e. they are christened with a particular name.

The word is also used metaphorically when new or funny names are given to people or situations 
e.g. The UK's departure from the EU was christened "Brexit" by an academic some years ago.

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