Quaker

[kwey-ker]

noun

1. a popular name for a member of the Society of Friends.

Quaker

/ ˈkweɪkə /

noun

1. a member of the Religious Society of Friends, a Christian sect founded by George Fox about 1650, whose central belief is the doctrine of the Inner Light. Quakers reject sacraments, ritual, and formal ministry, hold meetings at which any member may speak, and have promoted many causes for social reform

adjective

1. of, relating to, or designating the Religious Society of Friends or its religious beliefs or practices

Quaker

1. A member of the Religious Society of Friends. The Quakers are a group of Christians (see also Christian) who use no scripture and believe in great simplicity in daily life and in worship. Their services consist mainly of silent meditation.

Quakers have traditionally been committed to pacifism.

Pennsylvania was settled by a group of Quakers fleeing religious persecution.

Other Word Forms

• anti-Quaker adjective
• Quakerish adjective
• Quakerlike adjective
• non-Quaker noun
• non-Quakerish adjective
• pro-Quaker adjective
• Quakerism noun
• Quakeress noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Quaker¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; quake + -er ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of Quaker¹

C17: originally a derogatory nickname, alluding either to their alleged ecstatic fits, or to George Fox's injunction to " quake at the word of the Lord"

Example Sentences

His wife, whom Mr. Murray plainly reveres, is a Quaker who doesn’t care all that much about the factual questions that bother him in this book.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Quaker, 15, was one of five Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment horses spooked when rubble was dropped through a plastic tunnel while they were on an exercise in Belgravia on 24 April last year.

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To that end, the owner of Lay’s chips and Quaker Oats appointed a Walmart executive as its chief financial officer.

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This bold diagonal, cut through the prim Quaker street grid, produced a great many awkwardly shaped blocks, including the pointy trapezoid between the Parkway and the Vine Street Expressway that houses Calder Gardens.

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Earhart was full of mischief and adventure, a natural leader with a modesty instilled by her mother, who was prone to invoking her Quaker background when it suited her.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• shock 
• temblor 
• upheaval