| 释义 |
zealot|ˈzɛlət|
Forms: [4], 6–7 zelote, 4–8 zelot, 7 zelott, 6– zealot.
[ad. eccl. L. zēlōtēs, a. Gr. ζηλωτής, f. ζηλοῦν to be zealous (see zeal v.).]
1. A member of a Jewish sect which aimed at a Jewish theocracy over the earth and fiercely resisted the Romans till the fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70.
[a1300Cursor M. 21165 Symon zelote.] 1537[Coverdale] Orig. & Sprynge of Sectes 55 Zelotes or Gelous secte. These were suttyll and sedicious rascals amonge the Iewes of Ierusalem. 1644Hammond (title) Of Resisting the Lawfull Magistrate under colour of Religion... Also, Of the Zelots among the Jewes. 1671Stillingfl. Serm., Matt. xxi. 43 Wks. 1710 I. 107 That desperate Faction of the Zealots, who..soon put the whole Nation into Flames. 1831E. Burton Eccl. Hist. i. 11 The persons who were called Zealots, from their zeal for the national religion and independence. 1882Farrar Early Chr. II. 111 note, The Zealots formed the ‘extreme left’ division of the Pharisees politically, as the Essenes did religiously.
2. One who is zealous or full of zeal; one who pursues his object with passionate ardour; usually in disparaging sense, one who is carried away by excess of zeal; an immoderate partisan, a fanatical enthusiast. Const. for, † of, † to.
a1638Mede Diatribæ lii. Wks. i. (1672) 300 The true Zealot whom God approveth, namely, He whose Spirit is in Fervency and not in Shew. 1651Howell Venice 5 Though they continue still such great Zelotts to their own Country..they are not so to the Church. c1665Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1838) 25/1 The more religious zealots, who afterward were branded with the name of Puritan. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Zelot..is often taken in an ill Sense, for a Separatist or Schismatick, a Fanatick. 1712Addison Spect. No. 445 ⁋6 The insignificant Party Zealots on both sides. 1758Johnson Idler No. 11 ⁋3 Slavery is now no where more patiently endured than in countries once inhabited by the zealots of liberty. 1779Burke Let. to J. Erskine Apr., I do not aspire to the glory of being a zealot for any particular national Church. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. I. iii. 168 The queen [sc. Elizabeth] was as a mark for the pistol or dagger of every zealot. 1851Househ. Words III. 386/2 A horde of Methodists, Baptists, Campbellites, and other burning zealots. 1892Meredith Lett. (1912) II. 448 They are both zealots of the rod [i.e. keen anglers].
3. attrib. or as adj. That is a zealot; characteristic of a zealot.
1670Perwich Desp. (1903) 73 The old zelot Cardlls have made a great noyse, being much offended. 1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. 322 Our gentleman by these expressions had already given considerable offence to his zealot-auditors. 1713Guardian No. 93 ⁋10, I would not willingly lie at a zealot papist's mercy. 1879Farrar St. Paul II. 262 It was not likely that at Rome there should be any of that zealot fanaticism which held it unlawful for a Jew to recognise any other earthly ruler besides God. |