puritanismn.
/ˈpjʊərᵻtənɪz(ə)m/, /ˈpjʊərᵻtn̩ɪz(ə)m/, /ˈpjɔːrᵻtənɪz(ə)m/, /ˈpjɔːrᵻtn̩ɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈpjʊrətnˌɪz(ə)m/, /ˈpjʊrədəˌnɪz(ə)m/ 1.
a. The belief system, doctrines, or principles of the Puritans of the late 16th and 17th centuries; the opinions or practices of Puritans.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Puritanism > [noun]
Catharism1573
precisianism1573
puritanism1573
Purantism1596
cloak1649
saintism1691
Perfectism1830
hot gospelling1876
wowserism1936
1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 30 Let M. Phisician..shew..that ever I have maintainid ani od point of puritanism, or præcisionism.
1601 J. Marston et al. Iacke Drums Entertainm. ii. sig. D2 Leaue praying for dead, tis no good Caluianisme, puritanisme.
1624 W. Laud Diary 23 Dec. in Hist. Troubles (1695) 14 The same day I delivered my Lord a little Tract about Doctrinal Puritanism.
1661 S. Pepys Diary 7 Sept. (1970) II. 174 Here was Barthlemew fayre, with the Puppet Shewe, acted today, which had not been these forty years (it being so satyricall against puritanisme).
1736 W. Warburton Alliance Church & State iii. iii At one season it [sc. the danger] might arise from Popery, at another from Puritanism.
1765 Ess. Const. Eng. iv. 26 Charles..was easily brought to believe, that the new and uncommon opposition he met with, was owing to the encrease of puritanism.
1850 Times Nov. 30 6/5 As..the Church of England has a definite line of teaching, I hold it to be my duty to repress..teaching..which distinctly trangresses that line, whether on the side of Puritanism, Latitudinarianism, or Popery.
1900 J. Morley Cromwell v. v. 409 Militant Puritanism was often only half-Christian.
1989 D. H. Fischer Albion's Seed 47 People of every religious party agreed that Puritanism was specially strong in the eastern counties.
b. Any set of beliefs which involve strict or extreme adherence to doctrines or principles. Also figurative. rare.
ΚΠ
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 132 I could wishe..that we all could direct the course of our lyfe..accordyng to this Puritanisme of Osorius [L. iuxta hoc Osorii το καθαρον].
1870 J. Ruskin Lect. Art iii. 73 This Puritanism in the worship of beauty, though sometimes weak, is always honourable and amiable.
1968 Pacific Affairs 41 353 Neo-Islamists..preach a return to something that never was; a pristine but autocratic Muslim puritanism.
2. gen. Extreme strictness or adherence to doctrines or principles; puritanical behaviour; austerity; censoriousness.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > [noun] > conformity to high standards > excessive
puritanism1592
over-rigidity1852
1592 T. Nashe Pierce Penilesse (Brit. Libr. copy) sig. I2 Vnder hypocrisie [I comprehend] al Machiauilisme, puritanisme, & outward gloasing with a mans enemie.
1633 W. Prynne Histrio-mastix i. ii. 25 Licentious Christians, who make their will and lusts their law, may deeme it Puritanisme, or brand it for ouerstrict precisenesse.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 109 The Jollity and Pomp of the Heathens is much allayed by the Puritanism and unlimited Power of the Moors.
1754 T. Hartley Serm. Var. Subj. Pref. p. xviii Piety was now termed Puritanism, Profaneness and the Love of Pleasure knew no Bounds.
1798 E. Gardner Misc. I. 227 We may learn not always to account constitutional integrity the prudish affectation of political puritanism.
1832 G. Downes Lett. from Continental Countries I. 175 That moderate austerity..which may, without puritanism, be recommended.
1904 J. Conrad Nostromo i. iv. 25 It did not resemble the carelessness of a condottiere, it was a puritanism of conduct, born of stern enthusiasm like the puritanism of religion.
1979 Times Lit. Suppl. 23 Nov. 20/5 Bloomsbury's cherished causes—the abolition of censorship..the diminution of puritanism.
2004 E. Jeffreys China, Sex & Prostitution ii. 59 The perceived sexual puritanism of the Maoist era.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1573