proselyte

American  

[pros-uh-lahyt] / ˈprɒs əˌlaɪt /

noun

1. a person who has changed from one opinion, religious belief, sect, or the like, to another; convert.

   Synonyms:

   novice, neophyte

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verb (used with or without object)

proselyted, proselyting

1. proselytize.

proselyte British  

/ ˈprɒsɪlɪˌtɪzəm, ˈprɒsɪˌlaɪt, ˌprɒsɪˈlɪtɪk /

noun

1. a person newly converted to a religious faith or sect; a convert, esp a gentile converted to Judaism

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verb

1. a less common word for proselytize

Other Word Forms

• proselyter noun
• proselytic adjective
• proselytism noun

Etymology

Origin of proselyte

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Late Latin prosēlytus, from Greek (Septuagint) prosḗlytos, for unattested prosḗlythos “newcomer, proselyte,” equivalent to prosēlyth- (suppletive stem of prosérchesthai “to approach”) + -os noun suffix

Example Sentences

Janet Kitselman also became a proselyte for the history of Waterford, helping to create educational programming at the town’s Second Street School.

From Washington Post

Mary Frank, the artist, is his friend and fellow solar-cooking proselyte.

From The New Yorker

Christian Angermayer is an unlikely proselyte of psychedelia: The German financier didn’t drink so much as a sip of beer for the first three decades of his life.

From Scientific American

A 52-year-old mother of four whose usual definition of “excess” is a wine spritzer, Ms. Waldman may seem an unlikely proselyte for a second Age of Aquarius.

From New York Times

"I am a big believer in the potency of artistic endeavor at its highest. To proselyte through your storytelling is not good storytelling."

From Los Angeles Times