new light
/ˌnjuː ˈlʌɪt/Now chiefly historical
noun
1A person holding novel religious doctrines; a revivalist; specifically a member of any of several churches, denominations, etc., arising from schism within various Protestant churches in Scotland and North America during the 18th and 19th centuries; (also, chiefly in plural) any of the groups to which these members belonged. Now historical.
- In Scotland the terms New Lights and Old Lights were used initially to denote respectively the Moderate, more latitudinarian section and the Evangelical, more conservative section of the Church of Scotland; later, more commonly, they were used as popular names for the two groups which broke away from each other in the membership of each of the Secession Churches, and the idea of a national Church.In North America, the term New Light was used to denote those Presbyterians who seceded from the Philadelphia synod in 1741, and later those who left the Presbyterian Church in about 1803 under the leadership of Barton W. Stone, John Marshall, and others and developed eventually into the Disciples of Christ..
2 United States regional. In form New Light. The white crappie, Pomoxis annularis (family Centrarchidae), a common freshwater fish of North America.
adjective
Frequently in form New Light. Of, relating to, or holding the views of, the New Lights. Now historical.
Origin
Mid 17th century; earliest use found in William Prynne (1600–1669), pamphleteer and lawyer. From new + light.