[lat-i-tood-n-air-ee-uh
n, -tyood-] 
| 1. | allowing or characterized by latitude in opinion or conduct, esp. in religious views. |
| 2. | a person who is latitudinarian in opinion or conduct. |
| 3. | Anglican Church. one of the churchmen in the 17th century who maintained the wisdom of the episcopal form of government and ritual but denied its divine origin and authority. |
| lat·i·tu·di·nar·i·an (lāt'ĭ-tōōd'n-âr'ē-ən, -tyōōd'-) adj. Holding or expressing broad or tolerant views, especially in religious matters. n. Latitudinarian A member of a group of Anglican Christians active from the 17th through the 19th century who were opposed to dogmatic positions of the Church of England and allowed reason to inform theological interpretation and judgment. [Latin lātitūdō, lātitūdin-, latitude; see latitude + -arian.] lat'i·tu'di·nar'i·an n., lat'i·tu'di·nar'i·an·ism n. |
latitudinarian
any of the 17th-century Anglican clerics whose beliefs and practices were viewed by conservatives as unorthodox or, at best, heterodox. After first being applied to the Cambridge Platonists, the term was later used to categorize churchmen who depended upon reason to establish the moral certainty of Christian doctrines rather than argument from tradition. Limiting that doctrine to what had to be accepted, they allowed for latitude on other teachings. The Latitudinarians thus became the precursors of the similar Broad Church (q.v.) movement in the 19th-century Church of England.
Learn more about latitudinarian with a free trial on Britannica.com.
