The original meaning was the anointed one; the messiah. Enlightened souls recognize that the term forms a psychic representation of mans probabilities, which, if we resolve our Karma and grow spiritually, we have the ability to ascend to Christ-like levels of consciousness.
There have been many evolved souls who were anointed, but Christ is known historically as Jesus of Nazareth, or the Nazerane, who was a highly evolved entity to reincarnate on Earth. As a metaphysician, his theories and teachings were generally misinterpreted. The Nazarene came here to teach people how to live their lives so that the power of spirit might be expressed.
There have been many anointed ones. For over 10,000 years such figures as Horus of Egypt and Buddha of India had very similar stories told of events in their lives. Other "Christ" entities were:
Many of these "Son's-of-God" were crowned with thorns, which was derived from an ancient term describing the Sun's rays.