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Glite Dictionary
St. Matthew

St. Matthew

4.1
A follower of Jesus who people say wrote the first Gospel
  • proper noun
  • /seɪnt ˈmæθju/
translation icon : 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

Levi
vsSt. Matthew
61 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
Matthew
vsSt. Matthew
26 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
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
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
St. Matthew the Apostle
vsSt. Matthew
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

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.