Wycliffite

Or Wyc·lif·ite

[wik-li-fahyt]

adjective

1. of or relating to Wycliffe or the Wycliffites.

noun

1. a follower of John Wycliffe; Lollard.

Wycliffite

/ ˈwɪklɪˌfaɪt /

noun

1. a follower of John Wycliffe or an adherent of his religious ideas; a Lollard

adjective

1. of or relating to Wycliffe, his followers, or his religious ideas

Word History and Origins

Origin of Wycliffite¹

From the Medieval Latin word Wyclefīta, dating back to 1570–80. See Wycliffe, -ite ¹

Example Sentences

The Lollard movement in the Parliament of 1395 was led by Chaucer’s old fellow-ambassador, Sir Richard Stury, the “valiant ancient knight” of Froissart’s chronicles; and Chaucer himself has often been hailed, however falsely, as a Wycliffite.

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In spite of all political appearances it is true that it was really the Bible which stirred up these two movements, the Wycliffite and the Hussite.

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Biographers of Wycliffe have referred to this tract and quoted passages in evidence of the Wycliffite heresies; but they appear to have failed altogether of perceiving its larger scope, or understanding its political bearing and significance.

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About this time he became an ardent Wycliffite, winning over many persons, some of high rank, to the side of the reformer, and incurring the censure of Archbishop Arundel.

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It was the intermediate dialect, intelligible, as Trevisa has told us, to both extremes, even when these failed to be intelligible to each other; in its south-eastern form, it was the language of London, where the supreme law courts were, the centre of political and commercial life; it was the language in which the Wycliffite versions had given the Holy Scriptures to the people; the language in which Chaucer had raised English poetry to a height of excellence admired and imitated by contemporaries and followers.

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