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Quaker

American  
[kwey-ker] / ˈkweɪ kər /

noun

  1. a popular name for a member of the Society of Friends.

Quaker British  
/ ˈkweɪkə /

noun

  1. a member of the Religious Society of Friends, a Christian sect founded by George Fox about 1650, whose central belief is the doctrine of the Inner Light. Quakers reject sacraments, ritual, and formal ministry, hold meetings at which any member may speak, and have promoted many causes for social reform

"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

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or designating the Religious Society of Friends or its religious beliefs or practices

"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
Quaker Cultural  

  1. A member of the Religious Society of Friends. The Quakers are a group of Christians (see also Christian) who use no scripture and believe in great simplicity in daily life and in worship. Their services consist mainly of silent meditation.

Discover More

Quakers have traditionally been committed to pacifism.

Pennsylvania was settled by a group of Quakers fleeing religious persecution.

Other Word Forms

  • Quakeress noun
  • Quakerish adjective
  • Quakerism noun
  • Quakerlike adjective
  • anti-Quaker adjective
  • non-Quaker noun
  • non-Quakerish adjective
  • pro-Quaker adjective

Etymology

Origin of Quaker

First recorded in 1590–1600; quake + -er 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For months, activists have been demanding more support from city leadership, explained Elias Siegelman, an activist who works with No ICE Philly, which meets in the quintessentially Pennsylvanian location of a Quaker meeting house.

From Salon

Originally a Quaker, the story follows her as she moves away from that order, and crosses the Atlantic to America where hundreds join her on her religious journey.

From BBC

The sect is known as the Shaking Quakers, for their combination of a Quakerish faith in the individual spiritual experience and a worship style characterized by a feral sort of dancing.

From The Wall Street Journal

The connections it traces are fascinating—the unexpected role of Quakers in both the Birmingham gun factories and the whaling industry, for instance.

From The Wall Street Journal

His wife, whom Mr. Murray plainly reveres, is a Quaker who doesn’t care all that much about the factual questions that bother him in this book.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.