Ephesians

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The New Testament epistle written by Paul to early Christians in Asia Minor ; the people who lived in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus
2. A book of the New Testament addressed by Paul to a Christian community ; the inhabitants of the ancient city of Ephesus in western Anatolia
3. The Pauline letter included in the New Testament canon ; the citizens of Ephesus, a historic port city in modern-day Turkey

Etymology: "Ephesians" is the plural of "Ephesian," a person from Ephesus, the ancient Greek city on the coast of present-day western Turkey. The name of the city itself is older than any of the Greek or Latin forms built on it, and the English adjective is simply that place name with the suffix "-ian" attached, a pattern used for natives of many cities and regions. The plural took on a second, famous life: the letter in the New Testament addressed to the people of Ephesus, which is why the plural is so often capitalized and used as the title of that book.