[pyoo
r-i-tn] 
| 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: during part of the 17th century the Puritans became a powerful political party. |
| 2. | (lowercase) a person who is strict in moral or religious matters, often excessively so. |
| 3. | of or pertaining to the Puritans. |
| 4. | (lowercase) of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a moral puritan; puritanical. |
| Pu·ri·tan (pyŏŏr'ĭ-tn) n.
[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.] |