presbyterian

[prez-bi-teer-ee-uhn, pres-]

adjective

1. pertaining to or based on the principle of ecclesiastical government by presbyters or presbyteries.

2. (initial capital letter),  designating or pertaining to various churches having this form of government and professing more or less modified forms of Calvinism.

noun

1. (initial capital letter),  a member of a Presbyterian church; a person who supports Presbyterianism.

Presbyterian

¹

/ ˌprɛzbɪˈtɪərɪən /

adjective

1. of or relating to any of various Protestant Churches governed by presbyters or lay elders and adhering to various modified forms of Calvinism

noun

1. a member of a Presbyterian Church

presbyterian

²

/ ˌprɛzbɪˈtɪərɪən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or designating Church government by presbyters or lay elders

noun

1. an upholder of this type of Church government

Other Word Forms

• Presbyterianism noun
• presbyterianistic adjective
• presbyterianism noun
• non-Presbyterian adjective
• pro-Presbyterian adjective
• pseudo-Presbyterian adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Presbyterian¹

First recorded in 1635–45; presbytery + -an

Example Sentences

Born in 1952, the 72-year-old was the 27th son of the chief of Ayod and Leer and was brought up in the Presbyterian Church.

From BBC

One of them is James Talarico, a Texas state representative and Presbyterian seminarian who announced a run for the United States Senate in the Lone Star State against GOP Sen. John Cornyn the day before Kirk’s assassination.

From Salon

A Presbyterian minister, he resigned his ministry and was elected to Parliament in the 1982 by-election following the assassination of the Rev Robert Bradford MP by the IRA.

From BBC

“When Mona asked … for just about everybody in the Presbyterian, it was an instantaneous recognition of how much sense this made,” said Wendy Tajima, executive presbyter, or spiritual leader, of the church.

From Los Angeles Times

As Presbyterian ceremonies gave way to the Gabrielenos’, an emotional Tajima couldn’t help but feel the tribe’s deep-rooted connection to the land rekindling in real time.

From Los Angeles Times