Dictionary

azymite en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈæzɪmaɪt/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Latin azȳmita, from Ancient Greek ἀζῡμίτης (azūmítēs), from ἄζῡμος (ázūmos) + -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs, suffix forming masculine nouns meaning being connected to or a member of something, or coming from a particular place). ἄζῡμος is derived from ᾰ̓- (ă-, the alpha privativum, a prefix forming words having a sense opposite to the word or stem to which it is attached) + ζύμη (zúmē, “leaven, yeast”) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns of result or abstract nouns of action). The English word is analysable as, by surface analysis, a- + zym- + -ite or azyme + -ite.

Meanings

1. (derogatory, historical, qualifier:Eastern Orthodoxy) One who administers the Eucharist with unleavened bread, in particular a member of the Latin Church or Roman Catholic Church.
   • “Shall we drink a cup in honour of the Holy Virgin, and confusion to the Azymites?” / “Yes, yes! shouted the multitude. “Away with the Azymites—we want no new religion here;” and, singing and shouting, they threw up their caps in the air, […] 1843, Catherine Charlotte Maberly, Melanthe; or, The Days of the Medici: A Tale of the Fifteenth Century, volume 1, page 248:
   • “Away with them!” cried the Greeks; “we want no Latin allies! Away with the worship of the azymites!” 1898, Joseph Epiphane Darras, Martin John Spalding, Charles Ignatius White, A General History of the Catholic Church: From the Commencement of the Christian Era to the Twentieth Century, volume 3, page 602:
   • Moreover, the Azymites were often guilty of another monstrous crime: they fasted judaistically on Saturdays. 1916, Rothay Reynolds, My Slav Friends, page 15:

Forms

Antonyms

prozymite · fermentarian

Translations (3)

fr azymite (one who administers the Eucharist with unleavened bread) · pl azymita (one who administers the Eucharist with unleavened bread) · pl azymitka (one who administers the Eucharist with unleavened bread)