Zealot

3 definitions found

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

  Zealot \Zeal"ot\, n. [F. z['e]lote, L. zelotes, Gr. ?. See
     {Zeal}.]
     One who is zealous; one who engages warmly in any cause, and
     pursues his object with earnestness and ardor; especially,
     one who is overzealous, or carried away by his zeal; one
     absorbed in devotion to anything; an enthusiast; a fanatical


     partisan.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Zealots for the one [tradition] were in hostile array
           against zealots for the other.           --Sir J.
                                                    Stephen.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           In Ayrshire, Clydesdale, Nithisdale, Annandale, every
           parish was visited by these turbulent zealots.
                                                    --Macaulay.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Zealot
       n 1: a member of an ancient Jewish sect in Judea in the first
            century who fought to the death against the Romans and
            who killed or persecuted Jews who collaborated with the
            Romans
       2: a fervent and even militant proponent of something [syn: {partisan},
           {drumbeater}]

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

  88 Moby Thesaurus words for "zealot":
     Christian, God-fearing man, accepter, addict, adherent, aficionado,
     alien, believer, bigot, buff, bug, case, catechumen, character,
     churchgoer, churchite, churchman, collector, communicant, convert,
     crackpot, crank, daily communicant, demon, devotee, devotionalist,
     disciple, eager beaver, eccentric, energumen, enthusiast,
     extremist, faddist, fan, fanatic, fanatico, fiend, follower, freak,
     good Christian, great one for, hermit, hobbyist, hobo, hound,
     infatuate, kook, lone wolf, loner, lunatic fringe, maniac,
     maverick, meshuggenah, militant, monomaniac, natural, neophyte,
     nonconformist, nut, odd fellow, oddball, oddity, original,
     outsider, pariah, partisan, pietist, proselyte, pursuer,
     queer duck, queer fish, queer specimen, radical, rara avis,
     receiver, religionist, rhapsodist, saint, screwball, sectary,
     solitary, sucker for, theist, tramp, truster, type, visionary,
     votary