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Webster 1913 Edition

Puritan

Pu′ri-tan

,
Noun.
[From
Purity
.]
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.
[from pure.] A dissenter from the church of England. The puritans were so called in derision, on account of their professing to follow the pure word of God, in opposition to all traditions and human constitutions.
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.
Pertaining to the puritans, or dissenters from the church of England.

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