# Chrisom

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Anciently, a **chrisom**, or "chrisom-cloth," was the face-cloth, or piece of linen laid over a child's head during [baptism](/source/Baptism) or christening. Originally, the purpose of the chrisom-cloth was to keep the *[chrism](/source/Chrism)*, a consecrated oil, from accidentally rubbing off.[1] With time, the word's meaning changed, to that of a white mantle thrown over the whole infant at the time of baptism. The term has come to refer to a child who died within a month after its baptism—so called for the chrisom cloth that was used as a [shroud](/source/Shroud) for it. Additionally, in London's [bills of mortality](/source/Bills_of_mortality), the term chrisom was used to refer to infants who died within a month after being born.[1]

## References

1. Nares, Robert (1859). [*A Glossary; or Collection of Words, Phrases, Names and Allusions to Customs, Proverbs, etc., Which Have Been Thought to Require Illustration in the Works of English Authors, Particularly Shakespeare and His Contemporaries.*](https://books.google.com/books?id=vRRJAAAAcAAJ&q=blount%27s+glossography+chrisom&pg=PA160). London: John Russel Smith. p. 160.

- *Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary* (1913)

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