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Webster 1913 Edition
Puritan
1.
(Eccl. Hist.)
One who, in the time of Queen Elizabeth and the first two Stuarts, opposed traditional and formal usages, and advocated simpler forms of faith and worship than those established by law; – originally, a term of reproach. The Puritans formed the bulk of the early population of New England.
☞ The Puritans were afterward distinguished as Political Puritans, Doctrinal Puritans, and Puritans in Discipline.
Hume.
2.
One who is scrupulous and strict in his religious life; – often used reproachfully or in contempt; one who has overstrict notions.
She would make a
puritan
of the devil. Shakespeare
Pu′ri-tan
,Adj.
Of or pertaining to the Puritans; resembling, or characteristic of, the Puritans.
Webster 1828 Edition
Puritan
PU'RITAN
,Noun.
Hume gives this name to three parties; the political puritans, who maintained the highest principles of civil liberty; the puritans in discipline, who were averse to the ceremonies and government of the episcopal church; and the doctrinal puritans, who rigidly defended the speculative system of the first reformers.
PU'RITAN
,Adj.
Definition 2024
Puritan
Puritan
See also: puritan
English
Noun
Puritan (plural Puritans)
- A member of a particular Protestant religious sect.
Related terms
Translations
puritan
puritan
See also: Puritan
English
Noun
puritan (plural puritans)
- (often disapproving): a puritanical person
Translations
puritanical person
Adjective
puritan (comparative more puritan, superlative most puritan)
- (often disapproving): acting or behaving according to the Puritan morals (e.g. propagating modesty), especially with regard to pleasure, nudity and sex
Synonyms
Translations
having very strict moral standards