▪ I. baptist
(ˈbæptɪst)
[a. OF. baptiste, ad. L. baptista, ad. Gr. βαπτιστής, n. of agent f. βαπτίζειν to baptize.]
1. One who baptizes; esp. as applied to John, the forerunner of Jesus Christ. Baptist's day: the 24th of June.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 131 Seint iohan baptiste was bihaueded. c 1230 Ancr. R. 160 Sein Johan..was Godes baptiste. c 1400 Rom. Rose 7000 Gret wodes everichon, I lete hem to the Baptist Johan. 1589 Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxiv. (1597) 121 At Baptis-day with Ale and cakes bout bon⁓fires neighbors stood. 1815 Scott Ld. of Isles vi. iv, Ere John the Baptist's eve. 1871 [see baptizee]. 1879 Farrar St. Paul 463 Disciples of the Baptist. |
2. One who immerses himself, or is immersed. rare.
| 1775 Adair Amer. Ind. 296 The Baptist, or dipped person, came out..good-humoured after his purification. c 1811 Fuseli Lect. Art iv. (1848) 457 Varied groups of baptists, immersing themselves. |
3. A member of that Protestant religious body which holds that baptism ought to be administered only to believers, and by immersion; at first and till present century, called, by opponents anabaptists. [Perhaps this use originated in the early names, Baptized Believers, Churches, etc. Cf. baptist(e early pa. pple. of ]
| [1654 (title) The Humble..Vindication..[of] severall of the Baptized Churches in this Nation.] 1654 W. Britten (title) The Moderate Baptist. 1674 J. Mead (title) A brief account of passages between Quakers and Baptists. 1852 Moore Cherries, Methodists, of birds the aptest..And that water-fowl the Baptist. 1860 Eadie Eccl. Cycl. s.v., A conspiracy..in 1661..brought forth from the Baptists another disavowal of Anabaptist principles. [See Anabaptist 3.] |
b. attrib. quasi-adj.
| 1717 (title) Rules of the Particular Baptist Fund. 1766 Entick London IV. 309 At the Boar's-head..is a Baptist meeting. 1847 Nation. Cycl. II. 827 Persons who do not embrace the Baptist tenet. |
▪ II. baptist(e
earlier form of batiste.