puritan

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈpjʊrɪtən/ UK /ˈpjʊərɪtən/ See IPA manual

noun adj

Meanings

1

noun
a person with strict moral views; relating to such austerity

His puritan upbringing left him uneasy with any indulgence.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person with strict moral... moralistprudezealot asceticpietist

Opposites

hedonist libertine sensualist

Word family

Derived forms puritanism puritanical puritanically

Related forms pure purity purify

Etymology

From Late Latin puritas ('purity') + -an; the term arose in the 16th century for English Protestants seeking to 'purify' the Church, from Latin purus ('pure').

puritas Latin purus Latin *peuH- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# puritan

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** ˈpjʊrɪtən
**IPA (UK):** ˈpjʊərɪtən

## Meanings
1. a person with strict moral views; relating to such austerity

## Examples
- His puritan upbringing left him uneasy with any indulgence.

## Synonyms
- moralist
- prude
- zealot
- ascetic
- pietist

## Antonyms
- hedonist
- libertine
- sensualist

## Derived Forms
- puritanism
- puritanical
- puritanically

## Related Forms
- pure
- purity
- purify

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: puritas
- Root: purus
- Root: *peuH-

## Etymology
From Late Latin puritas ('purity') + -an; the term arose in the 16th century for English Protestants seeking to 'purify' the Church, from Latin purus ('pure').

## AI Etymology
Puritan is from Late Latin puritas ('purity') + -an; the term arose in the 16th century for English Protestants seeking to 'purify' the Church, from Latin purus ('pure'). Important recorded forms include puritas (Latin), purus (Latin), and *peuH- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers a person with strict moral views; relating to such austerity. The wider family includes derived forms such as puritanism, puritanical, and puritanically and related words such as pure, purity, and purify.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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puritan

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