proselyte

Etymology

From Old French proselite, from Late Latin proselytus (“proselyte, alien resident”), from Ancient Greek προσήλυτος (prosḗlutos, “newcomer, convert”) (from πρός (prós, “to, towards”) and the stem -ηλυ- of ἐλήλυθα (elḗlutha), perfect of ἔρχομαι (érkhomai, “come”)), translation of Hebrew גר (ger) in the Septuagint translation of the Torah (e.g., Exodus 12:49); also used in Matthew 23:15, Acts 2:10, Acts 6:5.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒsəlaɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑsəˌlaɪt/

Noun

proselyte (plural proselytes)

1. One who has converted to a religion or doctrine, especially a gentile converted to Judaism.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 23:15:

     Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter X, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 218:

     That evening the young nun lay exhausted between life and death in a brain fever, while all Naples was ringing with the faith, beauty, and fervour of the English proselyte.

Verb

proselyte (third-person singular simple present proselytes, present participle proselyting, simple past and past participle proselyted)

1. (transitive) To proselytize.

Anagrams

• polyester, polytrees

Adjective

prosēlyte

1. vocative masculine singular of prosēlytus