confirmand

1 9.5

A person about to take part in a Christian ceremony to become a full church member

noun
/kənˈfɜrmənd/

Jargon

: confirmando

During the service, the pastor addressed the confirmands to encourage them in their spiritual journey.

Examples

Each confirmand was required to write a reflection on their faith before the ceremony.
Recent studies also point out that worship attendance is down; fewer and fewer confirmands are visible in their congregations six months after they publicly profess their faith in the Lord; denominational headquarters continue to reduce their staff positions; and Lutheran schools are shrinking and closing.

Blog text (27)
The confirmand attended classes to learn about the significance of the confirmation ceremony.

Surface Forms

confirmand singular

confirmands plural

Morphology

confirmand = confirm (semi-transparent) = confirm + and

Formed by 'confirm' + the rare ecclesiastical noun-forming suffix '-and'; meaning is predictable but the suffix is specialized.

Etymology

Confirmand starts with confirm ('to make firm' or 'strengthen'), which is the same root as the everyday word firm. The ending -and shows a person who is receiving the action, so a confirmand is someone being made 'firm' or stronger in their faith by the confirmation rite.