baptism
pronunciation
How to pronounce baptism in British English:
UK [ˈbæptɪzəm]
How to pronounce baptism in American English:
US [ˈbæpˌtɪzəm]
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- Noun:
- a Christian sacrament signifying spiritual cleansing and rebirth
Word Origin
- baptism (n.)
- c. 1300, bapteme, from Old French batesme, bapteme (11c., Modern French baptême), from Latin baptismus, from Greek baptismos, noun of action from baptizein (see baptize). The -s- restored in later 14c. Figurative sense is from late 14c. The Anglo-Saxons used fulluht in this sense (John the Baptist was Iohannes se Fulluhtere). Phrase baptism of fire "a soldier's first experience of battle" (1857) translates French baptême de feu; the phrase originally was ecclesiastical Greek baptisma pyros and meant "the grace of the Holy Spirit as imparted through baptism." Later it was used of martyrdom, especially by burning.
Example
- 1. Father willenborg himself performed the baptism .
- 2. Baptism , then , is the outward expression of this repentance and faith .
- 3. A sudden rainstorm represented a test for the city 's capacity to meet emergency and to remove danger , and even a baptism for spirit .
- 4. But there - not twenty yards away on the beach - stood the preacher and two dozen of the faithful , performing a baptism .
- 5. In kashgar , medical mission work received its baptism of fire during the violent riots of the revolution 1911 / 12 .