zealotnoun & adjective
Meaning & use
- noun
- 1.a1400–An epithet given to the apostle Simon. (See note in etymology.) Cf. Canaanite n.1 A.2, Cananaean n. A.1a.In quot. c1384 as a proper name.
- [(c1384)
He..chees twelue of hem, whiche he clepide..Petre, and Andrew..Alphei, and Symound, that is clepid Zelotis [Latin Zelotes], [etc.].
Bible (Wycliffite, early version) (Douce MS. 369(2)) (1850) Luke vi. 15][Composed c1384] - a1400 (a1325)
[S]ymon zelote.
Cursor Mundi (Vespasian MS.) l. 21165[Composed a1325] - 1653
Paul beheaded under Nero, Peter stoned, Simon Zelot crucified in Britain.
, Plain Dealing 5 - 1716
There is a Tomb in a Grot, with an Inscription, That Simon the Zealot, or Cananite was interr'd there.
Lives Holy Apostles 196 - 1874
James the ‘Less’, and Jude his brother; Simon Zealot, and that other.
Dayspring (Boston) May 96/1 - 1917
If Simon the Zealot was connected with the earlier activity of the party from which his title seems to have been derived, he was a man in middle life.
Biblical World vol. 50 6/1 - 2005
A slightly different recension..specifies Simon's identity with Simon the Cananaean and Simon the Zealot.
Harvard Theol. Review vol. 98 457
- 2.1537–Chiefly with capital initial. A member of a Jewish movement in Roman Palestine which advocated fierce resistance to Roman rule and played a significant part in the rebellion of a.d. 66–70. historical.
- 1537
Zelotes or Gelous secte. These were suttyll and sedicious rascals amonge the Iewes of Ierusalem.
translation of Original & Sprynge of All Sectes f. 55v - 1644
Of resisting the lawfull magistrate under colour of religion... Also, of the Zelots among the Jewes.
(title) - 1671
That desperate Faction of the Zealots, who..soon put the whole Nation into Flames.
, Serm. Matt. xxi. 43 in Works (1710) vol. I. 107 - 1727
The chief of the Zealots were Eleazer, the son of Simon, and Zachariah, the son of Phalek, both of the sacerdotal line.
, translation of C. Fleury, Ecclesiastical History vol. I. ii. 117 - 1766
This is a true account of the sect of the zealots; tho' whatever St. Simon was before, we have no reason to suspect, but after his conversion, he was very zealous for the honour of his Master.
, Life Jesus Christ 414/1 - 1831
The persons who were called Zealots, from their zeal for the national religion and independence.
, Lectures upon Ecclesiastical History i. i. 11 - 1882
The Zealots formed the ‘extreme left’ division of the Pharisees politically, as the Essenes did religiously.
, Early Days of Christianity vol. II. 111 (note) - 1915
Might it not be argued that in the time of Jesus..it was the Zealots who came forward as the protesting minority?
American Journal Theology vol. 19 460 - 1985
As Josephus makes explicit, it was a coalition of precisely such brigand groups which moved into Jerusalem in the winter of 67–68 and formed the party called the Zealots.
, Bandits, Prophets & Messiahs ii. 83 - 2007
The Zealots were hostile even to Jews who sought reconciliation with pagan and polytheistic Rome.
Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 16 April a3
- 3.1596–A person who is zealously, fervently or passionately devoted to a cause or belief, or to the pursuit of an objective or outcome. Frequently (and now usually) with disparaging implication: a person who is excessively, immoderately, or fanatically devoted to a cause or ideal, esp. a religious or political one. Sometimes with for (formerly also †of, to).In the 17th cent., sometimes with reference to excessive puritanical zeal; cf. zeal n. 2, zealous adj. 2c.
- 1596–1600
In his allegoricall sermon, wha war seditious zelateis of the glorie of God, sum of thayme he reprehendit wha war to slak and shew not sik curage as thair predicessors.
in A. I. Cameron, Warrender Papers (1932) vol. II. 421 - a1638
The true Zealot whom God approveth, namely, He whose Spirit is in Fervency and not in Shew.
, Disc. Divers Texts lii, in Works (1672) i. 300 - 1651
Though they continue still such great Zelotts to their own Country..they are not so to the Church.
, S.P.Q.V. 5 - c1665
The more religious zelotts who afterward were branded with the name of Puritane.
, Memoirs Colonel Hutchinson (1973) 38 - 1706
Zelot..is often taken in an ill Sense, for a Separatist or Schismatick, a Fanatick.
Phillips's New World of Words (new edition) - 1758
Slavery is now no where more patiently endured, than in countries once inhabited by the Zealots of Liberty.
, Idler in Universal Chron. 24 June - 1827
The queen [sc. Elizabeth I] was as a mark for the pistol or dagger of every zealot.
, Constitutional History of England vol. I. iii. 168 - 1851
A horde of Methodists, Baptists, Campbellites, and other burning zealots.
Household Words vol. 3 386/2 - 1892
They are both zealots of the rod [i.e. keen anglers].
, Letters (1912) vol. II. 448 - 1938
His is the face of a zealot..and he has a zealot's unpleasant defects.
Nebraska State Journal 14 November 4/1 - 1979
He is a zealot for quality, driving fifty miles..to pick up four cartons of a superior watercress.
, Quest for Best iv. 64 - 2011
Alcohol consumers, fast-food restaurants, gun owners—who will the zealots target next?
State Journal-Register (Springfield, Illinois) (Nexis) 26 June
- adjective
- 1641–That is a zealot; characteristic of a zealot or zealots.Some early examples may be regarded as attributive or appositive uses of the noun.
- 1641
Broken taxations are payable to Princes against the opinion of Pharisaicall zelot Galilaeans.
, Tricoenium Christi sig. a2 - 1711
Our Gentleman by these Expressions had already given considerable Offence to his Zealot-Auditors.
, Characteristicks vol. III. Misc. v. iii. 321 - 1786
For the zealot Jews, full of theocratic ideas, were forward to conclude, that their Christian privileges absolved them from obedience to civil government.
, Serm. before Lords 6 - 1845
I would not have the zealot priest in white robes at my side.
, Poems 2nd Series 94 - 1879
It was not likely that at Rome there should be any of that zealot fanaticism which held it unlawful for a Jew to recognise any other earthly ruler besides God.
, Life & Work of St. Paul vol. II. ix. xxxix. 262 - 1889
He..was a sort of Saint Paul of the movement, more zealot after his conversion than anybody else.
Lippincott's Monthly Magazine December 825 - 1907
A thousand times his zealot imagination had pictured the recreant clergyman..as an outcast.
, Satan Sanderson xxxix. 332 - 1975
A zealot faith out of step with and unadaptable to our technological age.
Newport (Rhode Island) Daily News 25 November 4/1 - 2003
Some of the great spiritual fathers have passed on. Younger men, sometimes more zealot, have taken their place.
, Monks Mount Athos (Jubilee edition) Preface p. xxiii.