Huguenot

American  

[hyoo-guh-not, yoo-] / ˈhyu gəˌnɒt, ˈyu- /

noun

1. a member of the Reformed or Calvinistic communion of France in the 16th and 17th centuries; a French Protestant.

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Huguenot British  

/ -ˌnɒt, ˈhjuːɡəˌnəʊ /

noun

1. a French Calvinist, esp of the 16th or 17th centuries

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adjective

1. designating the French Protestant Church

Other Word Forms

• Huguenotic adjective
• Huguenotism noun

Etymology

Origin of Huguenot

1555–65; < French, perhaps blend of Hugues (name of a political leader in Geneva) and eidgenot, back formation from eidgenots, Swiss variant of German Eidgenoss confederate, literally, oath comrade

Example Sentences

The museum, located in the historic home of a 17th-century Huguenot leader, doesn’t have on-site security.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025

Built in 1743, it started life as a French Protestant church serving the Huguenot population, but was shut in 1809 due to a drastic decline in attendance.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2025

Pickup was at 7, sometimes earlier, and then came the slog of traffic back over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to their home, a modest townhouse in the Huguenot neighborhood that Susan had purchased in 2004.

From New York Times • May 13, 2023

The influential historian Jules Michelet, a Huguenot, famously termed Catherine "the maggot from Italy's tomb."

From Salon • Sep. 26, 2022

You may be a Romanist, but I am a Huguenot, and have read.

From Historical Romances: Under the Red Robe, Count Hannibal, A Gentleman of France by Weyman, Stanley J.