Meanings
plural proselytes
- One who has converted to a religion or doctrine, especially a gentile converted to Judaism.
You are my doctor, my saviour, my omnipotent judge, my priest, my god, the surgeon of my soul. And I am your proselyte to sanity.
2002, Sarah Kane, 4.48 Psychosis, Methuen, →ISBN, page 312 more examples
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 23:15That evening the young nun lay exhausted between life and death in a brain fever, while all Naples was ringing with the faith, beauty, and fervour of the English proselyte.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter X, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 218
present singular third person proselytes · participle present proselyting · participle past proselyted · past proselyted
- transitiveTo proselytize.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Hebrewגר
- Ancient Greekπροσήλυτος“newcomer, convert”
- Late Latinproselytus“proselyte, alien resident”
- Old Frenchproselite
- Englishproselyte
From Old French proselite, from Late Latin proselytus (“proselyte, alien resident”), from Ancient Greek προσήλυτος (prosḗlutos, “newcomer, convert”) (from πρός (prós, “to, towards”) and the stem -ηλυ- of ἐλήλυθα (elḗlutha), perfect of ἔρχομαι (érkhomai, “come”)), translation of Hebrew גר (ger) in the Septuagint translation of the Torah (e.g., Exodus 12:49); also used in Matthew 23:15, Acts 2:10, Acts 6:5.
More words from Old French, Late Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek προσήλυτος
- προσήλυτος (prosḗlutos)one who has converted to a religion
Catalan prosèlit
- prosèlitone who has converted to a religion
Dutch bekeerling, jodengenoot
- bekeerlingone who has converted to a religion
- jodengenootone who has converted to a religion
- bekerenproselytize
Finnish käännynnäinen
- käännynnäinenone who has converted to a religion
French prosélyte, néophyte
- prosélyteone who has converted to a religion
- néophyteone who has converted to a religion
German Proselyt, Judengenosse
- Proselytone who has converted to a religion
- Judengenosseone who has converted to a religion
Greek προσήλυτος
- προσήλυτος (prosílytos)one who has converted to a religion
Hungarian megtért (új hitre, vallásra), áttért
- megtért (új hitre, vallásra)one who has converted to a religion
- áttértone who has converted to a religion
- prozelitaone who has converted to a religion
Italian proselito, neofita
- proselitoone who has converted to a religion
- neofitaone who has converted to a religion
Polish prozelita, neofita
- prozelitaone who has converted to a religion
- neofitaone who has converted to a religion
Portuguese prosélito, neófito
- prosélitoone who has converted to a religion
- neófitoone who has converted to a religion
Russian прозели́т
- прозели́т (prozelít)one who has converted to a religion
Spanish neófito, prosélito
- neófitoone who has converted to a religion
- prosélitoone who has converted to a religion
Swahili mwongofu
- mwongofuone who has converted to a religion
Swedish proselyt
- proselytone who has converted to a religion
Ukrainian прозеліт
- прозеліт (prozelit)one who has converted to a religion
Yiddish גר
- גר (ger)one who has converted to a religion
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
proselyte. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proselyte
“proselyte.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proselyte. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “proselyte,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proselyte.
Source: proselyte on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.