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'''''Xian''''' (sometimes '''''Xtian''''') is a common ] for the ] '']''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S4Kr_0NYi9kC|title=Psycholinguistics|last=Garman|first=Michael|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1990|isbn=0521276411|location=Cambridge|pages=35}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f5IVAAAAYAAJ|title=Institutes of Grammar: As Applicable to the English Langage, Or as Introductory to the Study of Other Languages, Systematically Arranged, and Briefly Explained|last=Andrew|first=James|publisher=Black, Parbury, and Allen|year=1817|isbn=|location=London|pages=11}}</ref> The ''X'' comes from the ] '']'', the first letter of the Greek word ''Χριστός'', ''Khristós'', ] as ''Christus'', and ultimately ] as '']''.<ref name="oed-x">{{cite encyclopedia|year=2011|title=X n. 10.|encyclopedia=]|publisher=]|url=http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.spl.org:2048/view/Entry/230945#eid14045485|accessdate=17 June 2011}}</ref> The ''-ian'' is an ]-forming ] originating from the equivalent ] suffix ''-ianus''.{{Citation needed|date=May 2016}} The abbreviation follows a pattern similar to that of '']''. It is generally reserved for highly informal writing. The abbreviation is sometimes used in place of the male ] ''].''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBugHJRMO4IC|title=A Field Guide for Genealogists|last=Jacobson|first=Judy|publisher=Clearfield Company, Inc.|year=2001|isbn=0806350989|location=Baltimore, MD|pages=44}}</ref> |
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