Anabaptist

American  

[an-uh-bap-tist] / ˌæn əˈbæp tɪst /

noun

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

2. Archaic. Baptist.

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adjective

1. of or relating to Anabaptists or Anabaptism.

   The book traces the origin of Anabaptist groups such as the Mennonites and Amish.

Anabaptist British  

/ ˌænəˈbæptɪst /

noun

1. 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

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

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adjective

1. of or relating to these movements or sects or their doctrines

Other Word Forms

• Anabaptism noun
• Anabaptistically adverb

Etymology

Origin of Anabaptist

First recorded in 1525–35; from New Latin anabaptista, from Medieval Latin anabapt(īzāre) “to rebaptize,” from Late Greek anabaptī́zein; ana-, baptize + -ista -ist

Example Sentences

Obedience doesn’t come easily to the freethinking and endearingly eccentric title character in this beautifully observed novel set within linked Anabaptist communities around the Great Plains.

From The Wall Street Journal

It’s quite a historical twist, since “religious freedom is absolutely a core value of Anabaptists,” the Examiner wrote.

From Salon

The Amish generally follow basic Christian beliefs and practices but are not homogeneous, according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.

From Seattle Times

At 20, he had been ordained a minister of the Church of the Brethren, an Anabaptist denomination, and the news media had reflexively called him the Vaulting Vicar and the Pole Vaulting Pastor.

From New York Times

Hutterites, an Anabaptist Christian group, said they were subject to “cultural and religious profiling” after provincial governments in Canada “publicized” outbreaks in their communities, the report noted.

From Washington Times