baptize

verb

bap·​tize ˈbap-ˌtīz 

bap-ˈtīz,

 especially Southern  bab-ˈtīz,

 or  ˈbab-ˌtīz

variants or less commonly baptise

baptized also baptised; baptizing also baptising

transitive verb

1

religion : to administer baptism (see baptism sense 1) to

baptize a child in the Episcopal Church

was baptized a Catholic as an infant

2

a

: to purify or cleanse spiritually especially by a purging (see purge entry 1 sense 1) experience or ordeal

… baptized with pain and rapture, tears and fire …

—Sidney Lanier

b

: initiate

Both developments were baptized under last season's conditions of scanty snow …

—New York Times

3

: to give a name to (as at baptism) : christen

They baptized their son "John" after the baby's grandfather.

intransitive verb

: to administer baptism

baptizer noun

Synonyms

• call
• christen
• clepe [archaic]
• denominate
• designate
• dub
• entitle
• label
• name
• nominate
• style
• term
• title

Examples of baptize in a Sentence

The priest baptized the baby.

She was baptized at the age of 20.

Recent Examples on the Web

When his maternal great-grandmother was just a baby, she was baptized in 1840 at the city's iconic St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, the New Orleans Archdiocese said. —May 10, CBS News, 10 May 2025

Vance, who was baptized into the Catholic Church in 2019, was granted one of the last audiences with Francis on Easter Sunday. —Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 May 2025

Who's eligible to be elected pope? Canon law says any unmarried, baptized male Catholic, clergy or not, is eligible to be pope. —Christopher Watson, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2025

Many denominations of Christianity do not require the person baptizing someone to be ordained. —Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 16 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French baptiser, from Late Latin baptizare, from Greek baptizein to dip, baptize, from baptein to dip, dye; akin to Old Norse kvefja to quench

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for baptize

• advise
• applies
• apprise
• arise
• assize
• belies
• bitwise
• capsize
• chastise
• chordwise
• clockwise
• coastwise

Kids Definition

baptize

verb

bap·​tize bap-ˈtīz 

ˈbap-ˌtīz

baptized; baptizing

1

: to dip in water or sprinkle water on as a part of the ceremony of receiving into the Christian church

2

a

: to make pure in spirit (as by a painful experience)

b

: initiate entry 1 sense 3

3

: to give a name to (as in the ceremony of baptism) : christen

baptizer noun