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Reformation

Reformation

14 6.4
A movement in the 1500s to change the Catholic Church that led to Protestant churches
  • noun
  • /ˌrɛfəˈmeɪʃən/
translation icon : reforma
  • Luther was a key figure of the Reformation, a movement that began as a protest against certain church practices.
  • Protestant Reformation
  • Counter-Reformation
  • History of the Reformation

Plus Martin Luther led to the Reformation, led to the counter Reformation, led to the religious wars.

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Examples

  • When we think about Edward, we often think of him as a boy King, as a footnote to the reign of his father, but actually the Protestant reformation really should set his reign apart and we should look more closely at just what Edward achieved.

  • It took place in a context of the Reformation in Europe.

  • Oh, it was one of those religious things during the Reformation.

  • Has this king forgotten the Reformation?

  • Our generation's probably the worst since the Protestant Reformation.

  • By removing direct theological doctrine from the law, the Protestant Reformation allowed the law to develop in new ways.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Martin Luther's action was followed by the turbulence of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The Nikolaikirche has served Protestant worship since 1539, when the Reformation came to Leipzig.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Their differences are so great, that Edward cannot conceive of his sister Mary succeeding to the throne and undoing the Protestant reformation that he has enacted upon the country.

  • The exhibition chronicles the Reformation's expansion from Germany to the rest of Europe and eventually the world.

Synonyms

Protestant Reformation
vsReformation
2 6.5

A 16th-century movement that changes the Roman Catholic Church and leads to new Christian churches

is the more general name used without stressing the church split

Compounds

A 16th-century movement that changes the Roman Catholic Church and leads to new Christian churches

A movement in the Catholic Church in the 1500s to strengthen Catholic belief and practice after the Protestant Reformation

9.9

Religious movements before the Protestant Reformation that helped lead to it

Making serious changes in your own behavior and character to become a better person

Surface Forms

Reformation singular
Reformations plural

Morphology

Reformation = reform (semi-transparent) = re + form + ation

Formed by a standard nominalization of the verb 'reform' with '-ation', yielding 'the act or process of reforming'.

Etymology

Reformation comes from re- 'again' and form 'shape', so it literally means 'to shape again'. The 16th-century Reformation was a movement to 'shape the church again' by changing its beliefs and practices, which is why the word now refers to that major religious change.