Lollards

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Early followers of the reformer John Wycliffe who sought scripture in English ; a dissenting group condemned as heretics by the medieval church
2. Supporters of the 14th century preacher Wycliffe who translated the Bible into English ; a banned religious sect branded heretical by church authorities
3. Medieval English adherents of John Wycliffe's teachings on scripture and reform ; a movement of dissenters that the established church persecuted as heretical

Etymology: The Lollards were the followers of John Wycliffe, the fourteenth-century Oxford theologian who argued that scripture should be read in English and that the clergy should live in poverty. The name was first used as a term of abuse, and its most likely source is the Dutch verb "lollen", meaning "to mumble", which suggests that critics heard the reformers' prayers and Bible readings as mumbling nonsense. Lollard appears in Late Middle English, and the word is an inflected plural: "Lollards" is simply the plural of "Lollard", so the same origin applies. The word's origin is uncertain, and other explanations have been proposed. Their value lies in the fact that critics chose a name that made the movement sound incoherent, whatever its real derivation. Followers who were persecuted under the name later had to live with a label that had started as an insult.

Synonyms: heretic, dissenter, nonconformist

Antonyms: orthodox