Mormon
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Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Believers are called Mormons after the Book of Mormon (and have been since the 1830s),[1] which takes its name from the prophet whom they believe compiled it and/or the Waters of Mormon mentioned in it.[2] Various implausible etymologies have been proposed, usually in attempts to discredit or defend the Mormon faith.[3]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmɔːmən/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmɔɹmən/
- Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)mən
Proper noun[edit]
Mormon
- The supposed ancient American prophet of Mormon theology whom Mormons believe compiled the Book of Mormon.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
ancient prophet
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Noun[edit]
Mormon (plural Mormons)
- (originally derogatory, sometimes proscribed) A person who believes in the Mormon religion, which worships Elohim, views Joseph Smith as his prophet and has the Bible and the Book of Mormon as its main scriptures.
- 1912, Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage, Chapter 1
- That year, 1871, had marked a change which had been gradually coming in the lives of the peace-loving Mormons of the border.
- Synonyms: Latter-day Saint, LDS
- 1912, Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage, Chapter 1
Coordinate terms[edit]
- (religionists) religion, religionist; Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Confucianist, deist, Druid, Eckist, heathen, Hindu, Jain, Jew, Muslim, pagan, Rastafarian, Raëlian, Shintoist, Sikh, Taoist, Unitarian Universalist, Wiccan, Zoroastrian (Category: en:Religion) [edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Adjective[edit]
Mormon (not comparable)
- (sometimes proscribed) Of, or pertaining to, the faith established by Joseph Smith, Jr.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
pertaining to the faith established by Joseph Smith, Jr
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References[edit]
- ^ An early use is in the title of the 1839 Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons, Or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri.
- ^ Within the Book of Mormon, the waters are said by the book to have been named by "the king" (taken in context to be King Noah).
- ^ See Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, volume 13 (2015, →ISBN. The most prominent pro-Mormon etymology is the one, suggested in an 1834 Times and Seasons letter, that the term derives from English more + a supposed Egyptian *mon (“good”), which, however, modern scholarship considers figurative at best — see Paul Y. Hoskisson, What's in a Name? Mormon part 1 (Insights 32/2, 2012) and part 2 (Insights 32/3, 2012). Matthew Bowen suggested that the name derives from Egyptian mr(j) (“to love, desire”). Anti-Mormon etymologies are also implausible. Eber D. Howe suggested in 1834 that "The English word Mormon [...] is the English termination of the Greek word, "Mormoo," which we find defined in an old obsolete Dictionary "bug-bear, hob-goblin, raw head, and bloody bones"; Hoskisson writes that "almost any knowledgeable reader, even in 1834, would have recognized that this definition is not only fabricated but downright silly." An anonymous editorialist wrote in 1841 that "[In] the reformed Egyptian tongue, [...] Mormon [is] a writer of wicked, absurd, fictitious nonsense, for evil purposes, to make sorcerors", which the Interpreter calls "laughable".
