Abecedarian
- noun
- /ˌeɪbɪsɪˈdɛəriən/
- Archaic
- The Abecedarian rejected the traditional education system, believing it was unnecessary for spiritual growth.
Examples
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Researchers found that comparison group children who participated in community-based programs that met federal guidelines for quality had higher IQ scores than children who did not, though the effect size was half that of the Abecedarian program (Burchinal, Lee, & Ramey, 1989).
Academic text (2005) -
As an Abecedarian, he distanced himself from worldly knowledge and focused on religious teachings.
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Abecedarians
Academic text (2010) -
Longitudinal follow-up of children who participated in the Abecedarian program demonstrated increased reading and mathematics achievement that extended through age 21 (Campbell et al., 2001).
Academic text (2005) -
Model early intervention programs, such as the High/Scope Perry Preschool Project and the Carolina Abecedarian Project, have demonstrated significant improvement in children's early reading and mathematics achievement.
Academic text (2005) -
According to Wisconsin poet Michael Kriesel, who's written dozens of them: "Abecedarians encourage the poet to make wider-than-normal associative leaps between images,"
Academic text (2010) -
Many Abecedarians lived in secluded communities, prioritizing their faith over societal education.
Synonyms
A member of a Christian group from the 1500s who believes adults, not babies, should be baptized
Surface Forms
Morphology
Abecedarian = abecedary (opaque) = abecedary + arian
Although formed from 'abecedary' + '-arian', the sect-specific historical meaning is not inferable by an average learner from the components.
Etymology
Abecedarian comes from the idea of the letters ABC, from an old Latin word for the 'alphabet', so it first meant someone learning the 'basics' or a 'beginner'. In the 1500s a German religious group chose this name because they rejected higher learning and stuck to the ABCs of faith, so Abecedarian also names a member of that sect.