Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Romanist

Romanist

1 9.8
About the Roman Catholic Church or supporting its beliefs
  • adjective
  • /ˈroʊməˌnɪst/
  • Slur
: papista
  • He wrote a critical article examining the Romanist influence on contemporary church practices.

Examples

  • The debate between Protestant and Romanist beliefs continues to influence religious discussions today.

  • Under this new agreement, Antony, as the senior partner, would oversee Trans Alpine Gaul and much of the Romanist Octavian, as the junior partner, would oversee Spain.

  • Many historians argue that the Romanist perspective shaped European politics during the Middle Ages.

Synonyms

Catholic
vsRomanist
343 2.3

A person who belongs to the Roman Catholic Church led by the pope

is focused on relating to or supporting the church and its practices
Roman
vsRomanist
77 3.9

Related to the Catholic Church in Rome and its practices

can carry support or negative connotations and sometimes sounds outdated
Roman Catholic
vsRomanist
51 3.2

Relating to the Christian church led by the Pope

is often used more broadly, sometimes carrying an old pejorative sense
papist
vsRomanist
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Relating to the Roman Catholic Church, often used as an insult

is similar but can be neutral or simply descriptive rather than insulting

Surface Forms

Romanist positive

Morphology

Romanist = Roman (transparent) = Roman + ist

Formed by the productive suffix '-ist' added to 'Roman' meaning 'person associated with' (clear to learners familiar with '-ist').

Etymology

Romanist comes from Roman meaning 'of Rome' and the ending -ist meaning 'a follower or supporter'. So a Romanist is someone who supports the Roman Catholic Church, and the word is still used that way today, sometimes as a negative label.