baptize
Americanverb (used with object)
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baptizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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baptized,
past participle, past
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baptizing
present participle
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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)
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baptizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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baptized,
past participle, past
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baptizing
present participle
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:
He then excused himself to help baptize a woman near the stage.
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2024
Román had come to the United States in 2021 for a short trip to baptize a relative.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 16, 2023
The audience murmured and clapped as he recounted a well-worn story about using water from Israel’s Sea of Galilee to baptize his children.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 26, 2023
A Spanish friar records three earthquakes on the day he and his fellow missionaries baptize the Río Porciúncula.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2023
Lourdes has held off, hoping to baptize her daughter in Honduras with Honduran godparents.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
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
Her church baptizes people in it, and she has seen people cross it on foot.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2022
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
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
That same sea that baptized me is, for thousands of others, a grave.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
He was baptized at the school, and it inspired his father to get baptized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Vermeer was born in Delft amid the Wars of Religion and baptized in the Calvinist Reformed Church.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
He knows the rules better than most baptized Catholics.
From Salon ● May 23, 2025
His father’s told him that he’s following in the footsteps of Jesus, who was baptized in the River Jordan by John the Baptist.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
They said Father Daghir suggested inviting his brother, a transitional deacon training to join his twin brother as a priest, to participate so that it would be “twins baptizing twins.”
From Washington Times ● Oct. 31, 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
“And I drink ‘long life to your resolution’, Teddy,” cried Jo, baptizing him with a splash of lemonade, as she waved her glass and beamed approvingly upon him.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
