chrisom

{{Short description|Infant face-covering or shroud}}

{{Infobox material

| name = Chrisom

| image = Monument to Thomas and Elizabeth Selwyn, St Mary's church, Friston (13294346685).jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Part of a monument showing three chrisom swaddled babies

| type = Face-cloth

| density =

| abbe_number =

| refractive_index =

| flammability =

| limiting_oxygen_index =

| water_absorption_eq =

| water_absorption_24h =

| radiation_resistance =

| uv_resistance =

| youngs_modulus =

| tensile_strength =

| elongation =

| compressive_strength =

| poissons_ratio =

| hardness_rockwell =

| izod_impact_strength =

| notch_test =

| abrasive_resistance_note =

| abrasive_resistance =

| coeff_friction =

| speed_of_sound =

| melting_point =

| glass_transition =

| heat_deflection_temp_note =

| heat_deflection_temp =

| vicat_note =

| vicat =

| vicat_a =

| vicat_b =

| upper_working_temp =

| lower_working_temp =

| heat_transfer_coeff =

| thermal_conductivity_note =

| thermal_conductivity =

| thermal_diffusivity_note =

| thermal_diffusivity =

| linear_expansion =

| specific_heat =

| dielectric_constant_note =

| dielectric_constant =

| permittivity =

| relative_permeability_note =

| relative_permeability =

| permeability_note =

| permeability =

| dielectric strength =

| dissipation_factor_note =

| dissipation_factor =

| surface_resistivity =

| volume_resistivity =

| chem_res_acid_c =

| chem_res_acid_d =

| chem_res_alcohol =

| chem_res_alkali =

| chem_res_aromatic =

| chem_res_grease_oil =

| chem_res_haloalkane =

| chem_res_halogen =

| chem_res_ketone =

| gas_perm_temp = 20 °C

| gas_perm_N =

| gas_perm_O =

| gas_perm_CO2 =

| gas_perm_H2O =

| price =

| footnotes =

}}

Anciently, a chrisom, or "chrisom-cloth," was the face-cloth, or piece of linen laid over a child's head during baptism or christening. Originally, the purpose of the chrisom-cloth was to keep the chrism, a consecrated oil, from accidentally rubbing off.{{cite book|last=Nares|first=Robert|title=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.|date=1859|publisher=John Russel Smith|location=London|page=160|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRRJAAAAcAAJ&q=blount%27s+glossography+chrisom&pg=PA160}} 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 for it. Additionally, in London's bills of mortality, the term chrisom was used to refer to infants who died within a month after being born.