Wycliffite

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A supporter or adherent of John Wycliffe, the 14th-century English theologian who challenged papal authority and church practices
2. An adherent of the religious reform movement initiated by John Wycliffe, which emphasized scripture translation and criticized ecclesiastical corruption
3. A follower of John Wycliffe's theological doctrines, particularly his advocacy for English Bible translation and opposition to church hierarchy

Etymology: John Wycliffe, the fourteenth-century English theologian whose followers produced the first complete English translation of the Bible, gave his name to the group. Those who adopted his criticisms of the Church, including his rejection of papal authority and his insistence that scripture be read in English, became known as Wycliffites. The name is a simple formation: the surname "Wycliffe" with the suffix "-ite", a term that English borrowed through French from Latin "-ita" and ultimately from Greek "-ītēs", used to form nouns for adherents or members of a group. The Greek suffix had a long afterlife. Ancient Greek used "-ītēs" to form names for people connected with a place or thing, and Latin took it over in forms such as "-ītes", so that a suffix once attached to local names came to label followers of a leader, a sect, or a school of thought. English inherited the pattern through French, which is why so many religious and political labels, from Lutherans to Jacobites, end in it.