# Protestant

Pronunciation: say "PROT-i-stuhnt" US /ˈpɹɑtɪstənt/, UK /ˈpɹɒtɪstənt/

## Noun

1. A member of one of the Christian churches that separated from the Roman Catholic Church over theological or political differences during the Reformation.
   - Simple: A Christian who belongs to a church that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church long ago.
   - _Her family has been Protestant for five generations._
   - _The region's Protestants and Catholics worshiped in separate churches._
3. A member of the established Church of England or Church of Ireland, distinguished from nonconformists and other dissenting Protestants.
   - Simple: A member of the official English or Irish church, not one of the smaller churches that broke away.
   - _As a Protestant, he attended the established church rather than the dissenters' chapel._
   - _The landlord favored Protestants over Presbyterian tenants in the north._

## Adjective

2. Relating to the several Christian denominations that separated from the Roman Catholic Church over theological or political differences during the Reformation.
   - Simple: Belonging to or connected with a Christian church that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church.
   - _The war pitted Protestant princes against Catholic emperors._
   - _She was raised in a strongly Protestant household._

## Origin

Borrowed from either German Protestant or French protestant, with one likely reinforcing the other; it is equivalent to protest plus the suffix -ant.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/protestant (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).