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 • Mar. 16, 2021

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

From The New Yorker • Sep. 23, 2019

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 • Jul. 9, 2019

"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 • Sep. 16, 2015

Zoroaster at length carried his religious system to the royal court at Susa, and made Darius a proselyte, together with most of the great men of the kingdom.

From Fishes, Flowers, and Fire as Elements and Deities in the Phallic Faiths and Worship of the Ancient Religions of Greece, Babylon, by Anonymous