predikant, noun

/prɪədəˈkant/
Forms:
predekant, predicantShow more Also predekant, predicant, predikaant.
Plurals:
predikants, ‖predikante/prɪədəˈkantə/.
Origin:
Afrikaans, Dutch, Latin, late and medieval Latin, British EnglishShow more Afrikaans, earlier Dutch, preacher, minister, from Latin praedicans, praedicantem, present participle of praedicare to proclaim, to cry in public, in late and medieval Latin ‘to preach’. (In former times predicant was used also in British English).
a. A minister of a Dutch Reformed church; dominee sense 2 a; Leeraar. b. Used before a name, as a title; dominee sense 2 b ii. Also transferred sense.
1821 Missionary Notices 22They are very respectful to me, and always honour me with the appellation which they give their own ministers, viz. ‘Predicant.’
1833 Cape of G.H. Lit. Gaz. 1 Mar. 37The predicant, who had unfortunately lent himself to the oppressions of the Company, now plied them with religious advice.
1835 G. Champion Jrnl (1968) 13We were at the Paarl on the occasion of choosing a precentor in the Dutch church. This like that of the Predikant (or preacher) is a salaried office & is for life.
1849 R. Moffat in Daily News 24 Feb., 1900 6They have a measure of religious knowledge culled from the Bible and their itinerant predikants.
1851 R. Gray Jrnls of Two Visitations II. 14They cannot believe that a predikant would walk...It is in vain to tell tham that our Lord and Master and His holy apostles walked...They know that predikants don’t walk.
1868 W.R. Thomson Poems, Essays & Sketches 169‘The juts or the predikant said so,’ forecloses all thought or argument.
1882 C.L. Norris-Newman With Boers in Tvl 191Next day being Sunday, service was held in the open air, and a sermon preached by a Dutch predikant.
1890 A. Martin Home Life 272The predikant is a great man indeed throughout the widespread circle of his parishioners, and to offend him..means to be boycotted.
1900 B. Mitford Aletta 2On one side of him sat ‘Mynheer’, as the local predikant, or minister, is commonly known among his flock.
1915 D. Fairbridge Torch Bearer 308The Cape huis-vrouw is a hospitable and generous soul, and the predikant of a district is at all times kept well supplied with the good things of this life by his flock.
1919 M. Greenlees tr. of O.F. Mentzel’s Life at Cape in Mid-18th C. 68He intended to call upon Predikant Beck, but he did not find him at home.
1926 R. Campbell in Voorslag July 17I believe that the power behind the universe is something better than an omnipotent old parson or predikant with a colour prejudice and a dirty puritanical mind.
1943 ‘J. Burger’ Black Man’s Burden 240In the days of Milner and the Anglo-Boer war the Predikante (ministers) were the leaders of the Boers in their resistance against British rule, and they were cordially hated and reviled for their pains by Milner...To-day, however, the Church is not united, and the Predikante firebrands lead a minority of the South African people in a crusade for Afrikaner independence.
1956 D. Jacobson Dance in Sun 92You’ve got no vices. You should have been a predikant.
1972 J. Packer Boomerang 90Ma, you talk like a predikant. In a minute you’ll tell me to kneel down and pray for humility and courage!
1984 Probe Nov. 4The United Congregation Church predikant.
1982 D. Tutu Voice of One 33Woe betide the religious leader when he has the temerity to criticise a particular political status quo. He then runs the gauntlet of harsh criticism — for being a political predikant.
1990 R. Stengel January Sun 65The new MP,..a quiet, scholarly former predikant, believes the present Nationalist government is preparing to give power away to the blacks.
A minister of a Dutch Reformed church; dominee sense 2 a; Leeraar.
Used before a name, as a title; dominee sense 2 b ii. Also transferred sense.
Derivatives:
Hence predikantess  noun  nonce, the wife of a predikant.
1920 R.Y. Stormberg Mrs Pieter de Bruyn 20Mrs Van Rooyen, the predikantess, is a sweet, beautiful character; her husband a rigid, uncompromising, pitiless latter-day Calvin.
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predikantess

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