evangelism

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Medieval Latin evangelismus (“the Christian religion”), recorded from 1535,^[2] from Ancient Greek εὐαγγελισμός (euangelismós, “preaching of the Gospel”),^[2][3] formed from εὐαγγελίζω (euangelízō, “to evangelize”) and -ισμός (-ismós).^[2][4] It is partly formed from English evangel + -ism,^[5][6][7] the OED's base being the stem of evangelic.^[2] Etymonline glosses the Medieval Latin word as "a spreading of the Gospel" and traces it through Late Latin evangelium (“good news, gospel”) to Ancient Greek εὐαγγέλιον (euangélion).^[5] Compare French évangélisme, recorded by 1579.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The message of good news; the teaching of Christ, the Christian gospel: 1617, in R. Broughton's translation of the Liturgy of St Mark, a sense obsolete after 1888.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The lasting sense, the work of spreading the gospel, appears in 1626 in Bacon's New Atlantis,^[2][3] which Johnson (1755) quotes: "Thus was this land saved from infidelity, through the apostolical and miraculous evangelism".^[8] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1620s.^[5] As the evangelical movement grew, the word came to name its tradition within the Protestant churches, stressing the Bible, salvation by faith and personal conversion: the OED's first record is from 1799, Etymonline's from 1812.^[2][5] From 1844 it was used of zealous advocacy of any cause,^[2] a sense the Shorter Oxford dates only to the early 20th century.^[6] The English word gospel was formed as a translation of the Greek word for "good news".^[9]

Timeline

• 1617 – the Christian gospel; belief in it (obsolete by 1888).^[2]
• 1626 – the preaching and spreading of the gospel, in Bacon's New Atlantis.^[2][3][8]
• 1799 – evangelical Protestantism.^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1812.^[5]
• 1844 – zealous advocacy of a cause.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness: The church funded evangelism in the new suburbs.^[10][3][2]
2. Zeal for a cause, or eager advocacy of it, as if spreading a faith: his evangelism for electric cars.^{[10][3][2][6]}
3. The work, methods or outlook of a revivalist or evangelist preacher.^[10]
4. Evangelicalism: the tradition within Protestantism that stresses the Bible, salvation by faith and personal conversion.^[2][6][10]

Word family

• televangelism

Related words

• angel
• angelic
• evangel
• evangelist
• evangelize
• evangelical
• gospel

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins