puritan

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Pu·ri·tan

(pyo͝or′ĭ-tn)

1. A member of a group of English Protestants who in the 1500s and 1600s advocated strict religious discipline along with simplification of the ceremonies and creeds of the Church of England.

2. puritan A person who is very strict or austere in religious practice or moral outlook, especially someone who regards pleasure or luxury as sinful.

adj.

1. Of or relating to the Puritans or Puritanism.

2. puritan Characteristic of a puritan; puritanical.

[From Late Latin pūritās, purity (on the model of Medieval Latin Kathari, "the Pure Ones," a third-century sect of rigorist heretics), from Latin pūrus, pure; see peuə- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

puritan

(ˈpjʊərɪtən)

a person who adheres to strict moral or religious principles, esp one opposed to luxury and sensual enjoyment

adj

characteristic of a puritan

[C16: from Late Latin pūritās purity]

ˈpuritanˌism n

Puritan

(in the late 16th and 17th centuries ˈpjʊərɪtən)

1. (Protestantism) any of the more extreme English Protestants, most of whom were Calvinists, who wished to purify the Church of England of most of its ceremony and other aspects that they deemed to be Catholic

2. (Historical Terms) any of the more extreme English Protestants, most of whom were Calvinists, who wished to purify the Church of England of most of its ceremony and other aspects that they deemed to be Catholic

adj

3. (Historical Terms) of, characteristic of, or relating to the Puritans

4. (Protestantism) of, characteristic of, or relating to the Puritans

ˈPuritanˌism n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Pu•ri•tan

(ˈpyʊər ɪ tn)

n.

1. a member of a group of Protestants that arose in the 16th century within the Church of England, demanding the simplification of doctrine and worship and greater strictness in religious discipline.

2. (l.c.) a person who is strict in moral or religious matters.

adj.

3. of or pertaining to the Puritans.

4. (l.c.) puritanical.

[1540–50; < Late Latin pūrit(ās) purity]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	Puritan - a member of a group of English Protestants who in the 16th and 17th centuries thought that the Protestant Reformation under Elizabeth was incomplete and advocated the simplification and regulation of forms of worship Protestant - an adherent of Protestantism
	2.	puritan - someone who adheres to strict religious principles; someone opposed to sensual pleasures abstainer, ascetic - someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline
	3.	puritan - a person excessively concerned about propriety and decorum prude disagreeable person, unpleasant person - a person who is not pleasant or agreeable

puritan

noun

1. moralist, fanatic, zealot, prude, pietist, rigorist He delighted in dealing with subjects that enraged puritans.

adjective

1. strict, austere, puritanical, narrow, severe, intolerant, ascetic, narrow-minded, moralistic, prudish, hidebound, strait-laced Paul has always had a puritan streak.

Quotations
"The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators" [Lord Macaulay History of England]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

puritan

noun

A person who is too much concerned with being proper, modest, or righteous:

bluenose, Mrs. Grundy, prude, Victorian.

Informal: old maid.

Translations

بيوريتاني: مُتَزَمِّت في أمور الدّينمُتَزَمِّت ، مُتَشَدِّد

-kapuritán

asketpuritaner

Puritaner

πουριτανός

puritain

puritán

púrítanipúrítani, siîavandur/strangtrúaîur maîur

puritano

puritonaspuritoniškas

puritānis

puritaner

puritanismo

puritán

Püritensofta/bağnaz kimse

清教徒道德或宗教上极拘谨的人

puritan

[ˈpjʊərɪtən]

A. ADJ → puritano

B. N → puritano/a m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Puritan

[ˈpjʊərɪtən] n (RELIGION) → puritain(e) m/f

puritan

[ˈpjʊərɪtən] n (= puritanical person) → puritain(e) m/f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

puritan

(Rel: also Puritan)

adj → puritanisch

n → Puritaner(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

puritan

[ˈpjʊərɪt/ən] adj & n → puritano/a

puritan

(ˈpjuəritən) noun

1. a person who is strict and disapproves of many kinds of enjoyment.

2. formerly, in England and America, a member of a religious group wanting to make church worship etc simpler and plainer.

ˌpuriˈtanical (-ˈtӕ-) adjective

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

One of the vessels in the fleet was that same Mayflower which had carried the Puritan Pilgrims to Plymouth.

He wore a black cloak, called a Geneva cloak, and had a black velvet cap, fitting close to his head, as was the fashion of almost all the Puritan clergymen.

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Come, come, calm yourself, Madame Puritan, or I'll remove you to a dungeon.

Milady's supper was brought in, and she was found deeply engaged in saying her prayers aloud--prayers which she had learned of an old servant of her second husband, a most austere Puritan. She appeared to be in ecstasy, and did not pay the least attention to what was going on around her.

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James decided that the religion of England must be Episcopal, but as the reign of James went on, England became more and more Puritan and the breach between King and people grew wide, for James was no Puritan nor was Charles after him.

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The way was therefore opened to the four friends with all sorts of Puritan congratulations.

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He wore the old Puritan dress, a dark cloak and a steeplecrowned hat, in the fashion of at least fifty years before, with a heavy sword upon his thigh, but a staff in his hand to assist the tremulous gait of age.

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A party of Indians -- in their savage finery of curiously embroidered deerskin robes, wampum-belts, red and yellow ochre, and feathers, and armed with the bow and arrow and stone-headed spear -- stood apart with countenances of inflexible gravity, beyond what even the Puritan aspect could attain.

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A natural spring of soft and pleasant water--a rare treasure on the sea-girt peninsula where the Puritan settlement was made--had early induced Matthew Maule to build a hut, shaggy with thatch, at this point, although somewhat too remote from what was then the centre of the village.

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"Once it was the Puritan Fathers who left our coasts," he is recorded to have said; "nowadays it is our Prodigal Sons."

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For now, while so quietly Lying, it fancies A holier odor About it, of pansies -- A rosemary odor, Commingled with pansies -- With rue and the beautiful Puritan pansies.

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Cavaliers and Puritans. The Civil War and the Commonwealth.

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