Nicolaitann.adj.
/nɪkəˈleɪᵻt(ə)n/, U.S. /ˌnɪkəˈleɪᵻtn/, /ˌnɪkəˈleɪᵻdən/ Chiefly historical.
A. n.
A member of an early Christian or Gnostic sect, believed to have allowed its members to participate in pagan ceremonies. Also gen.: a married priest, an opponent of clerical celibacy.The Nicolaitans are mentioned in Revelation 2:6, 2:15, but their beliefs are otherwise almost unknown. Their association with clerical marriage and subsequently libertinism in general is a later development (cf. quots. 1604, 1989: Peter Damian wrote in the 11th cent.).
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Nicolaitec1384
Nicolaitan1526
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Rev. ii. 6 Butt this thou haste because thou hated the dedes off the Nicolaitans.
1546 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 1st Pt. f. 51v Called there of them the heresye of Nicolaitanes.
1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet. Nicholaitan, an heretike, like Nicholas, who helde that wiues should bee common to all alike.
1655 R. Baxter Quakers Catech. Pref. sig. Bjv The Nicolaitans and the rest of the Gnosticks.
1702 L. Echard Gen. Eccl. Hist. ii. viii. 272 There appear'd another sort of Hereticks call'd the Nicolaitans,..a horrid brutish Sect.
1762 C. Wesley Short Hymns III. 406 Howe'er the Nicolaitans claim Our God for theirs with lips impure, And boast thro' faith in Jesu's Name Their pardon and salvation sure.
1831 E. Burton Lect. Eccl. Hist. i. xii. 364 There were some Gnostics, who did not scruple to eat things sacrificed unto idols; and these men were then known by the name of Nicolaitans.
1861 R. C. Trench Comm. Epist. 7 Churches Asia 83 The Nicolaitans as we have seen are the Balaamites.
1904 W. M. Ramsay Lett. to Seven Churches xxiv. 335 The desire of the Nicolaitans to show that they were quite as fervent in the faith as the simpler Christians whose opinions they desired to correct.
1955 P. P. Levertoff tr. A. Schlatter Church in New Test. Period xxxi. 294 The first Christian group to call itself after its founder—the Nicolaitans.
1989 C. Morris Papal Monarchy (1991) iv. 103 Peter Damian..identified the heresy of the Nicolaitans..as consisting in the defence of the marriage of priests.
B. adj.
Of or relating to the Nicolaitans or their views; paganistic, libertine.
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society > faith > sect > Christianity > other sects and movements > Nicolaitanism > [adjective]
Nicolaitan1864
1864 T. Wright Autobiogr. App. 324 (note) The impure Nicolaitan doctrines of the Antinomians.
1904 W. M. Ramsay Lett. to Seven Churches xxiv. 335 The Nicolaitan doctrine had not caused any falling off in the good deeds of the Church.
1979 Church Times 2 Nov. 12/3 If the Church of England is ever to recover her strength in Christ, all such Nicolaitan practices must be rejected, and soon.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1526