Proselyted

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Caused someone to adopt a different faith or set of beliefs through persuasion or effort
2. Induced a person to change their religious or ideological allegiance
3. Led an individual to accept a new religion or belief system by convincing them

Etymology: "Proselyted" is simply the past tense and past participle of "proselyte," so its story is really the story of the noun. That noun began as a translation choice. When Jewish scripture was rendered into Greek (the Septuagint), the translators needed a word for the Hebrew "ger," the resident foreigner who lived among Israelites and accepted their law. They chose "prosēlytos," built from "pros" ("to, towards") and a form of "erchomai" ("come"), so it literally meant "one who has come towards." The word then passed through Late Latin "proselytus," meaning both a convert and an alien resident, and reached English through Old French "proselite." Its sense narrowed over time from a stranger who had settled among a people to someone who has adopted a new faith. The verb, which means to convert someone religiously, grew out of that religious meaning and follows the same path.

Synonyms: converted, recruited