evangelical
Pronunciation
- /iːvænˈd͡ʒɛlɪkəl/[1]
Etymology
It is borrowed from Late Latin evangelicus with the suffix -al,[2][3][4] after the earlier evangelic,[2][5][6] which came from Old French evangelique, from the same Latin word.[5] The Latin adjective is from the Greek adjective of Ancient Greek εὐαγγέλιον (euangélion, “good news, gospel”),[3][4] the source of evangel, from εὐάγγελος (euángelos, “bringing good news”).[7]
Earliest recorded meaning
Of or relating to the teachings of the Christian gospel: the OED's first example is from about 1527, in an English translation of a letter in which King Henry VIII answered Luther.[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1531,[3] and Etymonline to the 1530s.[5]
Semantic evolution
From 1532 the adjective was used of the four Gospels themselves,[2] and in the same year, in Thomas More's Confutation of Tyndale's Answer, both the adjective and the noun meant Protestant, especially Lutheran, a use that survives in the names of German Protestant churches.[2][5][3] From 1740, in George Whitefield's sermons, it named a tendency within Anglicanism that stressed the authority of the Bible, salvation by faith in the atoning death of Christ, and personal conversion;[2][5] the noun for a member of that party is recorded from 1804, in Southey.[2][5] From 1803 the word was applied to such churches and groups throughout the world, often Baptist, Presbyterian or Pentecostal.[2] In Scotland Evangelical named the party in the Church of Scotland opposed to the Moderates in the 18th and early 19th centuries.[2] The sense of spreading the gospel by preaching is recorded from 1574,[2] and the secular sense "zealous for a cause" from 1921.[2][8] The Historical Thesaurus links persuasion with faith and worship in English from the early 19th century.[9]
Timeline
- c. 1527 – of or relating to the Christian gospel.[2]
- 1532 – of the four Gospels, also Protestant or Lutheran, and as a noun a Protestant.[2][3]
- 1574 – relating to preaching the gospel.[2]
- 1740 – of the evangelical party in the Church of England.[2]
- 1804 – noun, a member of the evangelical party.[2][5]
- 1921 – zealous for a cause.[2]
Meanings
Adjective
- Of, relating to or in agreement with the Christian gospel, especially as told in the four Gospels of the New Testament.[10][3][8]
- Of or belonging to a Protestant tradition that stresses the authority of the Bible, salvation through faith in the death of Christ, and personal conversion.[10][3][8][2]
- Protestant; especially, often capitalized, of the Lutheran churches in Germany.[10][3][2]
- Relating to preaching the gospel; evangelistic.[8][2]
- Zealous in promoting a cause: She is evangelical about cold showers.[8][2]
Noun
Word family
- evangelically
- evangelicalness
- pseudoevangelical
- superevangelical
- unevangelical
- evangelicalism
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
- ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
- ^ Mapping Metaphor with the Historical Thesaurus, University of Glasgow, mappingmetaphor.arts.gla.ac.uk
- ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin