parabaptist means A person carrying out unlawful baptisms, especially in the early Church. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “parabaptist” is a great word
PARABAPTIST — [Noun] One who performs irregular or unauthorized baptisms, particularly within the formative structures of the early Christian church. From Ancient Greek παραβαπτιστής (parabaptistḗs), from παραβαπτίζω (parabaptízō, "to baptize without authority"), from para- ("beside, irregular") + baptistēs ("one who baptizes"). Unlike a "pedobaptist" (which specifies the subject as an infant) or an "Anabaptist" (which denotes a doctrinal movement), a parabaptist is defined solely by the transgression of ecclesiastical protocol. He is the defiant figure at the river's edge at dusk, the unordained hand cupping water in a clandestine cellar, the split in the community traced not by creed but by the simple, subversive act of pouring—a word for the ancient, physical friction between institutional order and personal zeal, and a quiet fracture through which the spirit, and authority, begins to leak.
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek παραβαπτιστής (parabaptistḗs), from παραβαπτίζω (parabaptízō, “to baptize without authority”). By surface analysis, para- + baptist.
noun
- A person carrying out unlawful baptisms, especially in the early Church.