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Zealot
//ˈzɛl.ət// noun
Definitions
Noun
- 1 One who is zealous, one who is full of zeal for their own specific beliefs or objectives, usually in the negative sense of being too passionate; a fanatic.
"For Modes of Faith let graceleſs zealots fight; / His can't be wrong whoſe life is in the right:"
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of zealot. alt-of
- 3 a fervent and even militant proponent of something wordnet
- 4 A member of a radical, warlike, ardently patriotic group of Jews in Judea, particularly prominent in the first century, who advocated the violent overthrow of Roman rule and vigorously resisted the efforts of the Romans and their supporters to convert the Jews. Judaism, historical
- 5 a member of an ancient Jewish sect in Judea in the first century who fought to the death against the Romans and who killed or persecuted Jews who collaborated with the Romans wordnet
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- 6 A member of an anti-aristocratic political group in Thessalonica from 1342 until 1350. historical
Etymology
Initially only found as Middle English zelote, an epithet of Simon the Zealot, acquiring its current senses in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Middle English derives from Latin zēlōtēs, from Ancient Greek ζηλωτής (zēlōtḗs, “emulator, zealous admirer, follower”), from ζηλόω (zēlóō, “to emulate, to be jealous”), from ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”).
See also for "zealot"
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