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zealot - 4 dictionary results

zeal⋅ot

  [zel-uht]
Use zealot in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who shows zeal.
2. an excessively zealous person; fanatic.
3. (initial capital letter) a member of a radical, warlike, ardently patriotic group of Jews in Judea, particularly prominent from a.d. 69 to 81, advocating the violent overthrow of Roman rule and vigorously resisting the efforts of the Romans and their supporters to heathenize the Jews.
Origin:
1530–40; earlier zelote < LL zēlōtēs < Gk zēltēs, equiv. to zēlō- (var. s. of zēloûn to be zealous; see zeal ) + -tēs agent suffix

Synonyms:
2. extremist, crank, bigot. See fanatic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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zeal·ot   (zěl'ət)   
n.  
    1. One who is zealous, especially excessively so.
    2. A fanatically committed person.
  2. Zealot A member of a Jewish movement of the first century A.D. that fought against Roman rule in Palestine as incompatible with strict monotheism.

[Middle English zelote, from Latin zēlōtēs, from Greek, from zēlos, zeal.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Zealot

Zeal"ot\, n. [F. z['e]lote, L. zelotes, Gr. ?. See Zeal.] One who is zealous; one who engages warmly in any cause, and pursues his object with earnestness and ardor; especially, one who is overzealous, or carried away by his zeal; one absorbed in devotion to anything; an enthusiast; a fanatical partisan.

Zealots for the one [tradition] were in hostile array against zealots for the other. --Sir J. Stephen.

In Ayrshire, Clydesdale, Nithisdale, Annandale, every parish was visited by these turbulent zealots. --Macaulay.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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zealot 
c.1300, "member of a militant 1st century Jewish sect which fiercely resisted the Romans in Palestine," from L.L. Zelotes, from Gk. zelotes "one who is a zealous follower," from zeloun "to be zealous," from zelos "zeal" (see zeal). Extended sense of "a fanatical enthusiast" first recorded 1638.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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