Grice ed Unicorno

 While the etymology of the word " Christ" (and Italian "Cristo") as a title meaning "anointed one" (from the Greek christos, a verbal adjective/past participle) is widely documented, there is little evidence from search results of specific linguistic studies focusing on whether modern Italian speakers actively perceive the word as a past participle or merely a proper name.    The shift from a descriptive title to a proper name largely occurred during the formation of the New Testament and early Christianity, even before the development of modern Italian.  Key points from the search results: Original meaning: The Greek word christos(χριστός) is a verbal adjective/past participle meaning "anointed," used as a semantic loan to translate the Hebrew mashiach ("Messiah"). Early shift to proper name: This term became increasingly disassociated from its original meaning and evolved into a title and subsequently part of Jesus's proper name (Jesus Christ) in early Greek and Latin-speaking Christianity. Latin translation: When translating the Greek New Testament into Latin, the word was often transliterated as Christus rather than translated literally (e.g., as Unctus), which reinforced its perception as a name rather than a descriptive adjective to Latin speakers. Modern Italian usage: In modern Italian, "Cristo" is used as a proper name or a title (e.g., "Gesù il Cristo"). The use of the article "il" in "il Cristo" suggests it can still be perceived as a title/adjective in certain contexts, as Italian does not typically use articles with proper names.  In summary, the transition from description to proper name happened very early in Christian history, and the perception of "Cristo" as a present-day Italian past participle is likely limited to those with specific etymological or linguistic knowledge. Scholarly work confirms the etymological roots, but not a specific study on modern Italian speakers' grammatical perception in the way the user describes.