protestant

protestant — noun

1. A person who follows the form of Christianity that began in the 1500s when sever

1.nounB1
Definition

A person who follows the form of Christianity that began in the 1500s when several European groups left the church based in Rome and its leader, the pope.

Example

Beatrix grew up in a Lutheran family, so she considers herself a Protestant.

countable noun: a Protestant

The village has both a Catholic church and a Protestant one on the same street.

Common collocations
  • devout Protestant
  • practising Protestant
  • staunch Protestant
  • Protestant vs Catholic
Synonyms
  • Reformed Christian

    narrower — usually refers specifically to Calvinist traditions within Protestantism

  • Evangelical

    overlaps but is broader; some Evangelicals are not part of traditional Protestant denominations

Antonyms
  • Catholic

    a member of the Roman Catholic Church, which Protestantism separated from

Usage Note

Often contrasted with Catholic. A Protestant may belong to many different denominations, including Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Anglican.

Common Mistakes

My uncle is a Protestant Christian.
My uncle is a Protestant.
The word already indicates a Christian; adding 'Christian' is redundant.
She converted to Protestant.
She converted to Protestantism.
Use the noun Protestantism for the religion; Protestant is a person.

protestant — adjective

Word family

  • Protestantism
    nounB2
  • Protestantize
    verbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three terms describe Christians outside the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions, but their scope and usage differ. Protestant is the broadest category, covering all Western Christian groups that broke from Rome during the Reformation — including Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans. Reformed Christian is narrower: it usually refers to churches in the Calvinist tradition (Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Dutch Reformed), not Lutherans or Anglicans. Evangelical is a cross-denominational label focused on personal conversion, biblical authority, and evangelism; while most Evangelicals are Protestant, the term also appears in some Catholic and Orthodox contexts. For example, a Lutheran in Germany would say 'I am a Protestant,' while a Presbyterian in Scotland might say 'I am a Reformed Christian,' and a non-denominational megachurch member in the US would likely say 'I am an Evangelical.'

Protestant ↗Reformed ChristianEvangelical ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • the Protestant work ethic
  • the Protestant Reformation

Prepositions

  • Protestant + vs + Catholic

Etymology

LatinGermanEnglish

The word comes from the Latin protestari, meaning 'to declare publicly or to bear witness.' In 1529, a group of German princes and city leaders issued a formal 'Protest' against a decision of the Diet of Speyer that tried to stop the spread of Luther's teachings. Those who signed this document became known as 'the Protesting ones' — in Latin, protestantes. Over time, the label grew from describing that specific protest into the broad name for all Christians in the Reformation tradition.