Jansenism

[ jan-suh-niz-uhm ]

/ ˈdʒæn səˌnɪz əm /

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noun

the doctrinal system of Cornelis Jansen and his followers, denying free will and maintaining that human nature is corrupt and that Christ died for the elect and not for all humanity.

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Origin of Jansenism

From the French word jansénisme, dating back to 1650–60. See Jansen, -ism

OTHER WORDS FROM Jansenism

Jan·sen·ist, nounJan·sen·is·tic, Jan·sen·is·ti·cal, adjective

Words nearby Jansenism

Jannings, jannock, janny, Janola, Jansen, Jansenism, jansky, Januarius, January, Janus, Janus cloth

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Jansenism in a sentence

Such are the barest outlines of the rise and progress of Jansenism during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The War Upon Religion|Rev. Francis A. Cunningham
Jansenism was the most vigorous contemporary effort to renovate not only morals but Church doctrine (see Jansenism).
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 7|Various
This chapter, wittily entitled (with a touch of Jansenism) "the little number of elect," would be brief were it but a catalogue.
Decadence and Other Essays on the Culture of Ideas|Remy de Gourmont
This question of Jansenism and Molinism occupied France for about two hundred years.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 3 (of 12)|Robert G. Ingersoll

He found fault with his friend for undue favour to the Jesuits, and undue severity towards Jansenism.
The History of Freedom|John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton

British Dictionary definitions for Jansenism

Jansenism

/ (ˈdʒænsəˌnɪzəm) /

noun

RC Church the doctrine of the Cornelis Jansen and his disciples, who maintained that salvation was limited to those subject to a supernatural determinism, the rest being destined to perdition

the religious movement arising from these doctrines

Derived forms of Jansenism

Jansenist, noun, adjectiveJansenistic or Jansenistical, adjective

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