Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A religious rite considered a sacrament by most Christian groups, marked by the symbolic application of water to the head or immersion of the body into water and resulting in admission of the recipient into the community of Christians.
- noun A ceremony in certain religious or nonreligious traditions in which one is initiated, purified, or given a name.
- noun An initiatory experience, act, or effort.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A sacrament or ordinance of the Christian church, instituted by Christ as an initiatory rite, consisting in the immersion of the person in water, or in the application of water to the person by affusion or by sprinkling, by an authorized administrator, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
- noun Any ceremonial ablution intended as a sign of purification, dedication, etc.: as, the baptism administered by John the Baptist, or that administered to proselytes by the ancient Jews; the baptism or christening of bells, ships, and other objects in the Roman Catholic Church, etc.
- noun Martyrdom.
- noun Same as
baptismal character (which see, underbaptismal ).
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of baptizing; the application of water to a person, as a sacrament or religious ceremony, by which he is initiated into the visible church of Christ. This is performed by immersion, sprinkling, or pouring.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
Bible Baptist Christian personal ordinance in which one issubmerged inwater . - noun The
Christian sacrament in which one isanointed with orsubmerged inwater and sometimes given aname . - noun A similar
ceremony ofinitiation ,purification ornaming .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a Christian sacrament signifying spiritual cleansing and rebirth
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Nor had I denied the divine appointment of baptism, but only declared my belief that _water baptism_, though a becoming rite under the Christian dispensation, was the baptism of John, and absolutely binding only under his intermediate dispensation.
Modern Skepticism: A Journey Through the Land of Doubt and Back Again A Life Story Joseph Barker 1840
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Mr. Lloyd, however, was in as great a mistake; for when insisting that the rite of baptism by water was to cease, when the _spiritual_ administration of CHRIST began, he maintained, that John the Baptist said, '_My baptism_ shall decrease, but _his_ shall increase.'
Life of Johnson, Volume 2 1765-1776 James Boswell 1767
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He did not approve of rebaptism, for he insisted that the all-important matter was not how or when water was applied, {81} but the reception of _Christ's real baptism_, an inner baptism, a baptism of spirit and power, by which the believing soul, the inner man, is clarified, strengthened, and made pure. [
Spiritual Reformers in the 16th & 17th Centuries Rufus Matthew Jones 1905
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They often long and cry for what they call a baptism of power.
Holy in Christ Thoughts on the Calling of God's Children to be Holy as He is Holy Andrew Murray 1872
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Genealogy is very important in the Mormon religion, mostly because of the Mormon belief in what is known as baptism for the dead.
The Sins of Brother Curtis Lisa Davis 2011
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But baptism is only the beginning, for it "seeks for the attainment of the fullness of life in Christ" (Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, n. 92), and thus for the common reception of Christ in the Eucharist.
Television 2009
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But baptism is only the beginning, for it "seeks for the attainment of the fullness of life in Christ" (Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, n. 92), and thus for the common reception of Christ in the Eucharist.
Ecumenism 2009
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Genealogy is very important in the Mormon religion, mostly because of the Mormon belief in what is known as baptism for the dead.
The Sins of Brother Curtis Lisa Davis 2011
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With all problems we have,: 2 wars, ineffective and bungling administration, economical recession (or call it what you want) gasoline prices going through the roof mounting foods costs, John McCain second baptism is 50th on a scale 1 to 10.
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To make his point, Cowan distorts some scriptural passages: for example, he says, "Peter declared in 1 Peter 3: 21 that baptism is a figure, or symbol" (p. 93).
Taylor vs. Cowan 2007
hernesheir commented on the word baptism
US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906: Railroad telegraphers' shorthand for the statement "Report to this office promptly all delays of baggage".
January 20, 2013