baptize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to immerse in water or sprinkle or pour water on in the Christian rite of baptism.
They baptized the new baby.
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to cleanse spiritually; initiate or dedicate by purifying.
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to give a name to at baptism; christen.
verb (used without object)
verb
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Christianity to immerse (a person) in water or sprinkle water on (a person) as part of the rite of baptism
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(tr) to give a name to; christen
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(tr) to cleanse; purify
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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baptizementnoun
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baptizernoun
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self-baptizernoun
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rebaptizeverb
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baptizableadjective
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unbaptizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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baptizesimple
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baptizessimple
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have baptizedperfect
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has baptizedperfect
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am baptizingprogressive
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are baptizingprogressive
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is baptizingprogressive
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have been baptizingperfect progressive
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has been baptizingperfect progressive
Past
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baptizedsimple
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had baptizedperfect
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was baptizingprogressive
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were baptizingprogressive
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had been baptizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of baptize
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Late Latin baptizāre, from Greek baptízein “to immerse,” from bápt(ein) “to dip” + -izein -ize
Explanation
To baptize is the ritual of bringing someone into the religion of Christianity. It’s usually when little babies get their heads sprinkled with water in a church. The word baptize comes from Greek baptizein which means, "to dip in water." That’s what happens when you get baptized — you get sprinkled with or dunked in water by someone official from a church. Christian parents often choose to baptize their babies, but adults can get baptized, too.
Vocabulary lists containing baptize
World Religions
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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Selection Vocabulary 4, Unit 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“As a missionary, we didn’t have to receive special permission from somebody in order to baptize an undocumented individual,” she recalled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
He then excused himself to help baptize a woman near the stage.
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2024
Both at Casa del Migrante and Agape, some migrants ask Murphy and Rivera to baptize them.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 21, 2023
A priest had come to her home to baptize her 4-month-old daughter, Nikol, who was scheduled to undergo lifesaving heart surgery the next day.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2022
I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees.
From "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros
Miraculous moments in the story, such as water welling from a rock where Patrick later baptizes people, play out in a quiet tone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
But in an explanatory note accompanying its decision, it recalled that when a priest baptizes someone, it is actually Christ performing the sacrament, not the community.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2022
The blistering sun baptizes during the day; the infinite dust dries you out in the afternoon; the wind bites at night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2021
Arkansas baptizes Texas in the cool, refreshing waters of SEC dominance.
From Fox News ● Sep. 12, 2021
With financial help from her boyfriend, she baptizes seven-year-old Diana.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
A new breeze baptized us in another vile stink.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
He was baptized at the school, and it inspired his father to get baptized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
The first missionary arrived on Easter Island in 1864: By 1868 all the islanders had been baptized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
He knows the rules better than most baptized Catholics.
From Salon ● May 23, 2025
Not until late December did they take Male to St. Paul’s Church to be baptized and named Francis after his father’s father and the lovely saint of Assisi.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
What Mr. Porter said he did remember was wading into the church’s pool and baptizing himself — or, as he claims, having his head held down in the font by “something.”
From Washington Times ● Aug. 8, 2023
“I get what it looks like,” he says of his new job, which doesn’t involve baptizing pop stars in bathtubs or preaching to throngs of adoring congregants.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2023
When asked what he would say if he were baptizing someone as a newly devout Bitcoiner, maybe in the warm waters of South Beach, Melder ad-libbed.
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2022
Behind the tub, a mural of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus stretches across the wall.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 19, 2022
“I am only baptizing in water, but someone is standing among you of whom you do not know. He is God’s Lamb, who is to remove the world’s sin.”
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
