Anabaptist

[ an-uh-bap-tist ]

/ ˌæn əˈbæp tɪst /

noun

a member of any of various Protestant sects, formed in Europe after 1520, that denied the validity of infant baptism, baptized believers only, and advocated social and economic reforms as well as the complete separation of church and state.

Archaic. Baptist(def 1).

adjective

of or relating to Anabaptists or Anabaptism.

Origin of Anabaptist

1525–35; < New Latin anabaptista < Medieval Latin anabapt(īzāre) to rebaptize (< Late Greek anabaptī́zein; see ana-, baptize) + -ista -ist

Related forms

An·a·bap·tism, nounAn·a·bap·tis·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for anabaptist

The reformers were not tolerant; for a woman was burnt for Arianism in 1550 and a male Anabaptist in 1551.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 4|Various
How were Royalist and Anabaptist plottings to be suppressed?
The Life of John Milton, Volume 5 (of 7), 1654-1660|David Masson
Reference has already been made to the reason why a common Anabaptist confession was never made public.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 3|Various
On one occasion he was asked to discard a certain officer because he was an Anabaptist.
A Student's History of England, v. 2 (of 3)|Samuel R. Gardiner.

The red bars denote districts where contemporary documents attest the existence of Anabaptist communities.
A History of the Reformation (Vol. 2 of 2)|Thomas M. Lindsay

British Dictionary definitions for anabaptist

Anabaptist

/ (ˌænəˈbæptɪst) /

noun

a member of any of various 16th-century Protestant movements that rejected infant baptism, insisted that adults be rebaptized, and sought to establish Christian communism

a member of a later Protestant sect holding the same doctrines, esp with regard to baptism

adjective

of or relating to these movements or sects or their doctrines

Derived Forms

Anabaptism, noun

Word Origin for Anabaptist

C16: from Ecclesiastical Latin anabaptista, from anabaptīzāre to baptize again, from Late Greek anabaptizein; see ana-, baptize

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012