zionitehttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zionite_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_useZionite, n.
Revised 2021

Zionitenoun

  1. 1.
    1596–
    A member of a religious group believing in an idealized society or Zion (Zion n. 2a). Now historical.
    1. 1596
      Oh Sionites no more, But to your tacklings stand like men of honor Like men of Sion, one to twentie score.
      A. Copley, Fig for Fortune 75
    2. 1675
      The Sionites, the people of God, the citizens of Zion.
      T. Brooks, Paradice Opened 85
    3. 1834
      Koch and Frick styled themselves and their followers ‘Zionites’. They professed their belief in the universal restoration to God of all rational beings that have ever fallen.
      London Literary Gazette 22 November 779/2
    4. 1886
      Founded in 1737 by the followers of Elias Eller, a religious enthusiast, Ronsdorf received town-rights in 1745. The Ronsdorf sect, the members of which called themselves Zionites, is now extinct.
      Encyclopædia Britannica vol. XX. 842/2
    5. 2013
      Some Zionites..invited Parham to address inhabitants interested in the Pentecostal message.
      J. Robinson, Divine Healing iii. 85
  2. 2.
    1895–1922
    † An advocate or supporter of a movement among Jewish people for the re-establishment of a Jewish nation in Palestine. Cf. Zionist n. A.2. Obsolete. rare.
    1. 1895
      The most noteworthy agitation of this kind is the nationalistic movement found among sections of the Jews everywhere over the globe, looking to a return to Israel... The protagonists of this movement are known as the Zionites.
      Literary Digest 13 July 19/1
    2. 1922
      If the Zionites will look into the aforesaid codicil they will find a letter from Paul address [sic] to the Hebrews.
      Daily Mail 24 January 6/1

Zionite, n. was revised in March 2021.

Zionite, n. was last modified in March 2025.