a member of a part of the Western Christian Church that separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th centuryCultureProtestant Churches usually have simpler ceremonies than Roman Catholic Churches, with more emphasis on preaching (= teaching about religion) and the authority of the Bible. Most Christians in the US and Britain are Protestants, and the Church of England is a Protestant Church. Other Protestant Churches include the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian Churches, as well as the Quakers.see also the Reformation
Culture AmericaAmericaThe United States of America is called by several different names, both by the people who live there and by people in other countries. These names include the USA, the United States, the US, the States and America. The official name, the United States of America, first appears in the Declaration of Independence of 1776, when the country was called 'the thirteen united States of America'. America is widely used as a name for the US, though in fact there are many other nations in the Americas (= the continents of North and South America). Songs like America the Beautiful are about the US. Other names, such as 'the land of the free', 'the land of liberty', 'God's country', 'the melting pot' and 'the greatest nation on earth', show how proud they are of their country. People in Britain and America sometimes refer humorously to each other's countries as 'the other side of the pond', meaning the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.North America refers to a continent and region, and includes the US, Canada, Mexico and Greenland. Between the US and South America is the region of Central America, which may also be considered part of North America. Sometimes the countries of Central and South America are together referred to as Latin America.America and the Americas are said to have been named after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer who sailed to South America in 1499, visiting the area that later became known as Brazil, and also the Bahamas. Vespucci believed that the land he had discovered was a new continent, not part of Asia as Christopher Columbus had thought. By 1538, the famous map-maker Gerardus Mercator was using the name 'America', the Latin form of Vespucci's name, for the New World (= North and South America, as opposed to Europe).People from the US are called Americans. People from other countries in the Americas are called by national names based on the name of their country, for example, Canadians. The adjective used to describe things from the US is American. The US is always referred to in organizations such as the American Legion and in expressions like 'the American dream'. US is also used as an adjective, as in the US Olympic team. Official names of government organizations may use United States, for example, the United States Coast Guard.
Topics Religion and festivalsc1Word Originmid 16th cent.: via German or French from Latin protestant- ‘protesting’, from Latin protestari, from pro- ‘forth, publicly’ + testari ‘assert’ (from testis ‘witness’).