Chrysostom
/ˈkrɪsəstəm/proper noun
An epithet for a celebrated preacher or orator, above all John of Antioch, archbishop of Constantinople.
The Greek roots
Literally: “golden mouth”
The story of the word
John of Antioch preached in Constantinople until his sermons got him exiled, and the nickname golden-mouthed was fixed on him only generations after his death in 407. He was not the first to hold it: Dio of Prusa, a pagan orator of the first century, is known to this day as Dio Chrysostom. The gold half runs through English in chrysanthemum, the gold flower, and chrysalis, named for the metallic sheen on some butterfly pupae.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
In a sentence
The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom is still the one used on most Sundays in Orthodox churches.
They called the old barrister Chrysostom, half in admiration and half in complaint about the length.