zealot
/ˈzɛl.ət/
Etymology
Initially only found as Middle English zelote, an epithet of Simon the Zealot, acquiring its current senses in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Middle English derives from Latin zēlōtēs, from Ancient Greek ζηλωτής (zēlōtḗs, “emulator, zealous admirer, follower”), from ζηλόω (zēlóō, “to emulate, to be jealous”), from ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”).
zealot means one who is zealous, one who is full of zeal for their own specific beliefs or objectives, usually in the negative sense of being too passionate; a fanatic. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 80 out of 100.
zealot is pronounced /ˈzɛl.ət/.
Why “zealot” is a great word
ZEALOT — [Noun] A person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals. From Middle English *zelote*, from Latin *zēlōtēs*, from Ancient Greek ζηλωτής (*zēlōtḗs*, "emulator, zealous admirer"), from ζηλόω (*zēlóō*, "to emulate, to be jealous"), from ζῆλος (*zêlos*, "zeal, jealousy"). The term acquired its current general senses in the 16th and 17th centuries. Unlike an "enthusiast," whose ardor is eager but tractable, or a "partisan," whose loyalty is to a faction, a zealot is possessed by the ideal itself, their conviction a closed system. It is the glint of certainty in a narrowed eye, the rhetorical hammer that brooks no nuance, and the hand that would rather burn the world than see it remain unchanged—a monument to the terrible purity that arises when belief consumes the believer.
noun
- One who is zealous, one who is full of zeal for their own specific beliefs or objectives, usually in the negative sense of being too passionate; a fanatic.“For Modes of Faith let graceleſs zealots fight; / His can't be wrong whoſe life is in the right:”
- A member of a radical, warlike, ardently patriotic group of Jews in Judea, particularly prominent in the first century, who advocated the violent overthrow of Roman rule and vigorously resisted the efforts of the Romans and their supporters to convert the Jews.
- A member of an anti-aristocratic political group in Thessalonica from 1342 until 1350.