evangelist

[ih-van-juh-list]

noun

1. a Protestant minister or layperson who serves as an itinerant or special preacher, especially a revivalist.

2. a preacher of the gospel.

3. (initial capital letter),  any of the writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) of the four Gospels.

4. (in the primitive church) a person who first brought the gospel to a city or region.

5. (initial capital letter),  a patriarch.

6. a person marked by evangelical enthusiasm for or support of any cause.

evangelist

¹

/ ɪˈvændʒɪlɪst /

noun

1. an occasional preacher, sometimes itinerant and often preaching at meetings in the open air

2. a preacher of the Christian gospel

3. any zealous advocate of a cause

4. another word for revivalist

Evangelist

²

/ ɪˈvændʒɪlɪst /

noun

1. any of the writers of the New Testament Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John

2. a senior official or dignitary of the Mormon Church

Word History and Origins

Origin of evangelist¹

1125–75; Middle English evangeliste < Latin evangelista < Greek euangelistḗs. See evangel ¹, -ist

Example Sentences

AI evangelists believe its sheer economic and computational force make it unstoppable.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The giant candlesticks’ scrolled feet support robustly modeled evangelists; Mark is most conspicuous, as befits the patron saint of Venice.

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Back in the summer when the dispute became public, Saylor, the most prominent evangelist for the cryptocurrency, had accused Chanos of not understanding the business model while the latter retaliated, accusing Saylor of “financial gibberish.”

Read more on MarketWatch

I’m the first to admit that I have been an evangelist for using artificial intelligence for both work and pleasure.

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Near the end of law school, after well-known evangelist Josh McDowell directed Newby to read his book “More Than a Carpenter,” an argument for the historical reality of Jesus, Newby was born again.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• missionary 
• pastor 
• televangelist