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Glite Dictionary
affusion

affusion

9.9
To pour water on a person's head to baptize them
  • noun
  • /əˈfjuːʒən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : afusión
  • Some Christian denominations prefer affusion over immersion for baptism ceremonies.

Examples

  • The priest performed an affusion during the ceremony.

  • The priest performed the affusion by gently pouring water on the baby's head.

  • During the ritual, affusion was chosen because the font was too small for full immersion.

  • Many churches prefer affusions over full immersion.

  • The priest performed the affusion during the baptism ceremony, pouring water gently over the child's head.

  • During the ritual, the candidate received the affusion as a symbol of their faith.

  • In this church, the tradition of affusion is preferred over full immersion for baptizing new members.

Synonyms

aspersion
vsaffusion
  • Archaic
9.9

A sprinkling of water used in a baptism ceremony

uses pouring larger amounts of water over the head to baptize

How Submerged

immersion
2 6.1
affusion
  • Specialized
9.9
aspersion
  • Archaic
9.9

Surface Forms

affusion singular
affusions plural

Morphology

affusion = affuse (opaque) = affuse + ion

The formation from the verb 'affuse' to the noun with '-ion' is a standard and regular nominalization.

Etymology

Affusion comes from the Latin parts ad- and fundere, where fundere means 'to pour', so it originally meant 'to pour on'. You can see the same root in common words like infuse or diffuse, and that's why affusion now means the act of pouring water on someone, especially in baptism.