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Glite Dictionary
St. Matthew

St. Matthew

1 4.1
A follower of Jesus who people say wrote the first Gospel
  • proper noun
  • /seɪnt ˈmæθju/
: San Mateo
  • The Feast of St. Matthew is celebrated on September 21st in Western Christianity.

Examples

  • According to tradition, St. Matthew was once a tax collector before following Jesus.

  • Many works of art throughout history depict St. Matthew writing his Gospel.

  • Many Christians celebrate the feast of St. Matthew each September.

  • According to tradition, St. Matthew was a tax collector.

  • In St. Matthew's Gospel, the Beatitudes introduce the teachings of Jesus to his followers.

  • Many scholars believe that St. Matthew was one of the twelve disciples chosen by Jesus.

  • The influence of St. Matthew's writings can be seen throughout the early Christian texts.

Synonyms

Matthew
vsSt. Matthew
11 1.7

One of Jesus' twelve followers who was a tax collector and is often said to have written the first Gospel

describes the same person but in plain disciple wording
Levi
vsSt. Matthew
2 7.9

A follower of Jesus said to be the writer of the Gospel of Matthew

uses a common honorific title instead of that personal name
Saint Matthew
vsSt. Matthew
1 4.7

One of Jesus's twelve followers in the Bible, often shown holding a book

uses the term disciple rather than the title apostle
St. Matthew the Apostle
vsSt. Matthew
1 7.6

One of the twelve followers of Jesus who is said to have written the first Gospel in the New Testament

uses a shorter title rather than naming the twelve
Saint Matthew the Apostle
vsSt. Matthew
7.0

A person who was one of Jesus' twelve disciples and is believed to have written the first Gospel

is stated more generally as a disciple without naming the twelve

Surface Forms

St. Matthew main

Morphology

St. + Matthew

This is compositionally built from the title 'St.' (Saint) plus the proper name 'Matthew', so a learner who knows those constituents will readily infer it refers to the saint/discipile Matthew. The meaning is non-idiomatic and follows a cross-linguistically common naming pattern, so it is immediately transparent to B1 learners.

Etymology

St. Matthew is the name given to Matthew, a follower who, according to tradition, left his job as a tax collector to 'follow' Jesus and later wrote the 'Gospel' that bears his name. So St. Matthew now refers to that follower and the 'Gospel' he wrote.