Iconodule

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual who expresses support for the veneration of religious images or icons is commonly described as a devotee of such artifacts
2. A person who actively endorses or promotes the reverence of religious icons in worship settings can be identified as an advocate for them
3. An individual who strongly aligns with the reverence of symbolic religious artifacts or images is often regarded as a proponent of such beliefs

Etymology: "Iconodule" was coined in the Greek of the Byzantine world, where the great controversy over religious images turned on a single pair of words. Its first element, "eikōn," meant "likeness, image, portrait," and the second, "doulos," meant "slave," so the compound literally describes someone who serves or bows down to images. The English word is a direct borrowing of that Greek compound, and its meaning follows the old theological dispute between those who venerated icons and those who opposed them. The irony sits inside the word itself. Its partner term, "iconoclast," is built from the same "eikōn" plus "klastēs," meaning "breaker," so the two words form a matched pair: the smasher of images and the slave to them. Both entered English as learned borrowings from Greek, drawn into the vocabulary of church history and theology rather than everyday speech.

Synonyms: iconophile