protestant

1 of 2

noun

prot·​es·​tant ˈprä-tə-stənt 

sense 2 is also

prə-ˈte- 

1

Protestant

a

: any of a group of German princes and cities presenting a defense of freedom of conscience against an edict of the Diet of Speyer in 1529 intended to suppress the Lutheran movement

b

: a member of any of several church denominations denying the universal authority of the Pope and affirming the Reformation principles of justification by faith alone, the priesthood of all believers, and the primacy of the Bible as the only source of revealed truth

broadly : a Christian not of a Catholic or Eastern church

2

: one who makes or enters a protest

Protestantism

ˈprä-tə-stən-ˌti-zəm 

noun

protestant

2 of 2

adjective

1

Protestant : of or relating to Protestants, their churches, or their religion

2

: making or sounding a protest

The two protestant ladies up and marched out.

—Time

Examples of protestant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Protestants welcomed the city’s first Catholic church, for example, and often sent their children to the Catholic parochial schools. —Matthew Smith, The Conversation, 8 June 2026

Republicans need strong turnout from evangelical Protestants and to get close to Trump’s support levels among Catholics in order to defend their narrow congressional majorities in November. —W. James Antle Iii, The Washington Examiner, 19 Apr. 2026

Adjective

In sharp contrast to the first-generation members of the Frankfurt School, Habermas came from a petit-bourgeois, culturally conservative Protestant milieu, his family name going back to sixteenth-century Thuringian cobblers. —Alex Ross, New Yorker, 15 June 2026

This question was answered in the thundering affirmative by two groups of late-19th-century Protestant social activists whose retail legacies continue, even now, to thrive across all 50 states. —Caity Weaver, The Atlantic, 12 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle French, from Latin protestant-, protestans, present participle of protestari

First Known Use

Noun

1539, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

1539, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

protestant

noun

prot·​es·​tant

ˈprät-əs-tənt

sense 2 is also prə-ˈtes-

1

capitalized : a member of one of several Christian churches that separated from the Roman Catholic church in the 16th century or of a church founded by members of these churches

2

: one who protests

protestant adjective often capitalized

Protestantism

ˈprät-əs-tənt-ˌiz-əm

noun

Legal Definition

protestant

noun

pro·​tes·​tant prə-ˈtes-tənt 

: a person challenging an action of an administrative agency