zelant, n.

zelant
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zelant_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# † zelantnoun

## Earlier version

- zelant in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zelant mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zelant. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

This word is now obsolete. It is only recorded in the early 1600s.

### Where does the noun zelant come from?

Earliest known use

early 1600s

The only known use of the noun zelant is in the early 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for zelant is from 1624, in a translation by John Vicars, chronicler and poet.

zelant is a borrowing from Latin.

Etymons: Latin zelant-, zelans, zelare.

### Nearby entries

1. zeeping, adj. 1895–
2. zef, adj. 1990–
3. zegadine, n. 1651–
4. zeilanite, n. 1815–
5. zein, n. 1820–
6. Zeiss, n. 1876–
7. zeitgeber, n. 1958–
8. zeitgeist, n. 1848–
9. zeitgeisty, adj. 1966–
10. zek, n. 1968–
11. zelant, n.1624–26
12. zelatrice, n. 1874–
13. zelatrix, n. 1865–
14. Zeldovich, n. 1956–
15. Zelig, n. 1984–
16. Zelig-like, adj. 1983–
17. zelkova, n. 1836–
18. zelotypia, n. 1566–
19. zelotyping, adj. a1660
20. zelotypist, n.?1632
21. zelotypy, n. 1623–1794

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Latin.
Etymons: Latin zelant-, zelans, zelare.
< post-classical Latin zelant-, zelans zealot (from c1000 in British sources), use as noun of present participle of zelare zeal v.…
< post-classical Latin zelant-, zelans zealot (from c1000 in British sources), use as noun of present participle of zelare zeal v.

### Notes

Compare Italian zelante zealous (14th cent.; 1612 depreciatively ‘excessively zealous’).
With the formal variation compare discussion at zealator n.

## Meaning & use

Obsolete.

1. 1624–26
   A zealot.
   1. 1624

      > A poore drop of Christs his blood most pure, This zealant [Latin sedulus] Bottles-vp.

      J. Vicars, translation of G. Goodwin, Babels Balm x. 106
   2. 1625

      > To certaine Zelants all Speech of Pacification is odious.

      F. Bacon, Essayes (new edition) 13
   3. a1626

      > Eusebius beareth the Character of a Moderate Diuine. Gamaliel of a Protestant Zelant. Zebedaeus of a Romish Catholike Zelant.

      F. Bacon, Advt. Holy Warre in Certaine Miscellaneous Works (1629) 93
   religion
   1. Cananaean 1483–
      An epithet given to the apostle Simon; = Canaanite, n.¹ A.2.
   2. votary 1576–
      A devoted or zealous worshipper of a particular god, goddess, saint, or other person. Frequently with of or possessive. Now chiefly historical.
   3. Canaanite 1611–
      An epithet given to the apostle Simon. (See the etymology section.)
   4. spiritato 1613–98
      A person considered to exhibit excessive religious fervour; a religious zealot or fanatic. Cf. enthusiast, n. 1b.
   5. zealist 1614–
      A zealot.
   6. zelant 1624–26
      A zealot.
   7. zeal 1631–47
      In extended use. A zealous person; a zealot. Obsolete.
   8. religionist 1651–
      A person devoted to religion; an excessively religious person, a zealot. Also: a person professionally occupied with religion, as a minister or…
   9. ecstatic 1659–
      One who is subject to fits of ecstasy (see ecstasy, n. 2, 3).
   10. rapturist 1665–
       A person who has or goes into raptures; an enthusiast.
   11. religioner 1808–
       A person bound by religious vows; (more generally) a person devoted to a religious life, a religious person.
   12. subject 1820
       A person under the influence of religious emotion. Obsolete. rare.
   13. voteen 1825–
       A devout or zealously religious person, a devotee. Also (esp. in later use): a sanctimonious or ostentatiously pious person.
   14. zealator 1867–
       A zealot (see zealot, n.); esp. a person who is excessively, immoderately, or fanatically devoted to a cause or ideal, esp. a religious or…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Forms

### Variant forms

1. 1600s
   zealant, zelant

zelant, n. was revised in June 2018.

zelant, n. was last modified in September 2024.