Proselytiser

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who actively attempts to convert others to their religious faith or ideological belief system
2. someone who vigorously attempts to convert others to their own religious faith or adopted ideology
3. a person engaged in persuading others to adopt their particular religious convictions or belief system

Etymology: "Proselytiser" is simply "proselytise" with the agent suffix "-er" added, and the verb itself traces back to a Greek word meaning a newcomer or someone who has come over to a group. The Greek "proselytos" was built from "pros" (toward) and "erchesthai" (to come), so a proselyte was literally one who had come toward a community, most famously a non-Jew who adopted Judaism. The English verb "proselyte" and its relatives followed, and "proselytise" is the British spelling of the same verb. The suffix does the familiar work. English has long attached "-er" to verbs to name the person who performs the action, a pattern that goes back through Old English "-ere" and Latin "-arius" (a worker or agent), so "proselytiser" describes the one doing the proselytising. The noun is a straightforward derivation rather than a separate historical coinage, and its meaning follows the verb closely: someone who actively tries to win others over.

Synonyms: converter, missionary, evangelist, preacher, advocate

Antonyms: nonbeliever, skeptic, disbeliever, opponent, detractor