baptism
/ˈbæptɪzəm/ noun, proper noun
Forms baptisms
- noun (Christianity) A Christian sacrament, by which one is received into a church and sometimes given a name, generally involving the candidate to be anointed with or submerged in water. “The child’s baptism was held at the old church.”
- noun A similar ceremony of initiation, purification or naming.
- noun (philosophy) The moment at which an object is first assigned a proper name.
- proper noun (rare, nonstandard) The Baptist faith; the Baptist denominations of Christianity.
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Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English bapteme, baptesme, from Old French batesme or bapteme, from Ecclesiastical Latin, Late Latin baptisma, from Ancient Greek βάπτισμα (báptisma, “dipping, baptism”), from βαπτίζω (baptízō, “I dip in liquid”). Displaced native Old English fulwiht.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The act of baptizing; the application of water to a person, as a sacrament or religious ceremony, by which he is initiated into the visible church of Christ. This is performed by immersion, sprinkling, or pouring.
Etymology [OE. baptim, baptem, OE. baptesme, batisme, F. baptême, L. baptisma, fr. Gr. , fr. to baptize, fr. to dip in water, akin to deep, Skr. gah to dip, bathe, v. i.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “baptism”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details