a person who maintains that humankind is justified by faith alone
Derived forms
solifidianism (ˌsoliˈfidianˌism)
noun
Word origin
C16: from New Latin sōlifidius, from Latin sōlus sole + fides faith
solifidian in American English
(ˌsɑləˈfɪdiən)
noun
Theology
a person who maintains that faith alone, without the performance of good works, is all that is necessary for salvation
Derived forms
solifidianism
noun
Word origin
[1590–1600; soli-1 + L fid(ēs) faith, belief, trust + -ian]This word is first recorded in the period 1590–1600. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: attack, fixture, operator, radius, volunteer-ian is a suffix occurring originally in adjectives borrowed from Latin, formed from nounsdenoting places (Italian) or persons (Flavian), and now productively forming English adjectives by extension of the Latin pattern.Attached to geographical names, it denotes provenance or membership (Washingtonian), the latter sense now extended to membership in social classes, religious denominations,etc. (Episcopalian; pedestrian). Attached to personal names, it has the additional senses “contemporary with” ( Victorian) or “proponent of” (Hegelian; Freudian) the person specified by the noun base. It also occurs in a set of personal nouns,mainly loanwords from French, denoting one who engages in, practices, or works withthe referent of the base noun (comedian; grammarian; theologian)