a member of a pacifist Christian sect founded by George Fox (d.1691) that stresses inner light (divine influence guiding the soul) and rejects sacraments and a formal ministry
Quakerish adj
Quakerism noun
quake1 + -er2. Orig derogatory, often said to come from the exhortation of its founder, George Fox, to his followers to ‘tremble at the word of the Lord’, but the term had been used earlier in a similar meaning for various sects who expressed religious fervour by shaking or fits. The sect is properly called the Society of Friends; although it has never officially adopted the name Quaker, individual members often use it and it is not now regarded as insulting