Puritan

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Puritan \Pu"ri*tan\, n. [From {Purity}.]
     1. (Eccl. Hist.) One who, in the time of Queen Elizabeth and
        the first two Stuarts, opposed traditional and formal
        usages, and advocated simpler forms of faith and worship
        than those established by law; -- originally, a term of
        reproach. The Puritans formed the bulk of the early


        population of New England.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The Puritans were afterward distinguished as Political
           Puritans, Doctrinal Puritans, and Puritans in
           Discipline. --Hume.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. One who is scrupulous and strict in his religious life; --
        often used reproachfully or in contempt; one who has
        overstrict notions.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              She would make a puritan of the devil. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Puritan \Pu"ri*tan\, a.
     Of or pertaining to the Puritans; resembling, or
     characteristic of, the Puritans.
     [1913 Webster] Puritanic

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  puritan
       adj : morally rigorous and strict; "blue laws"; "the puritan work
             ethic"; "puritanic distaste for alcohol"; "she was
             anything but puritanical in her behavior" [syn: {blue(a)},
              {puritanic}, {puritanical}]
       n 1: adheres to strict religious principles; opposed to sensual
            pleasures
       2: a person excessively concerned about propriety and decorum
          [syn: {prude}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  84 Moby Thesaurus words for "puritan":
     Albigensian, Catharist, Franciscan, Grundy, Sabbatarian, Trappist,
     Victorian, Waldensian, abstainer, anchorite, ascetic, austere,
     bhikshu, bigoted, bluenose, dervish, disapproving, dour, fakir,
     fanatic, firm, flagellant, fundamentalist, goody-goody, hard,
     hard-line, hard-nosed, hermit, hidebound, impliable, inexorable,
     inflexible, intolerant, iron, ironbound, ironclad, ironhanded,
     mendicant, mid-Victorian, moralistic, muscle-bound, narrow-minded,
     obdurate, obstinate, old maid, orthodox, pietist, pietistic, prig,
     prim, procrustean, proper, prude, prudish, purist, puristic,
     puritanic, puritanical, relentless, religionist, rigid, rigorist,
     rigoristic, rigorous, rockbound, sannyasi, severe, stern, stiff,
     stiff-necked, straightlaced, strait-laced, straitlaced, strict,
     stubborn, stuffy, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting,
     unyielding, uptight, yogi, yogin, zealot
  
  

From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:

  Puritan, PA
    Zip code(s): 15946