papist

[pey-pist]Disparaging.

noun

a Roman Catholic.

adjective

papistical.

Nearby words

Origin of papist

1515–25; earlier papista < New Latin. See pope, -ist

Related forms

pa·pist·like, adjectivepa·pist·ly, adverban·ti·pa·pist, noun, adjectivenon·pa·pist, noun

pro·pa·pist, noun, adjective

Usage note

Papist and its derivatives such as papism date back to the Protestant Reformation. These and related terms such as popish and popery are still sometimes used by Protestants to show contempt for Roman Catholic practices and tenets.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for papist

Hubert was a French papist, of six-and-twenty years of age, the son of a watchmaker at Rouen, in Normandy.
Curiosities of Civilization|Andrew Wynter
"Better that than be a Papist, anyhow," sulked out Lucretia.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 65, No. 399, January 1849|Various
Have a care, monsieur, have a care, lest we think you papist!
Count Hannibal|Stanley J. Weyman
Within twenty-five miles of the capital there was not a Papist in arms.
The History of England from the Accession of James II.|Thomas Babington Macaulay

The Protestants gained but little by the change, for the Mohammedan was about as tolerant as the papist.
The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present Power|John S. C. Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for papist

papist

noun, adjective (often capital)

usually derogatory another term for Roman Catholic

Derived Formspapistical or papistic, adjectivepapistry, noun

Word Origin for papist

C16: from French papiste, from Church Latin pāpa pope 1

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

Word Origin and History for papist

papist

1530s, "adherent of the pope," from Middle French papiste, from papa "pope," from Church Latin papa (see pope).