ˈbapˌtizəm, ÷ˈbabˌt- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English bapteme, baptisme, from Old French & Late Latin; Old French baptesme, from Late Latin baptisma, from Greek, from baptizein to baptize — more at baptize
1.
a. : the ceremony of proclaiming one a Christian or of admitting one into membership in a Christian church with the use of water by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling and with the recital of a form of words (as “I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”)
b. : the Christian sacrament (as in the Roman Catholic and many Protestant churches) of purification from sin and of spiritual rebirth as a Christian that is administered before any other sacrament (often in infancy)
c. : a rite resembling Christian baptism usually in using water for ritual purification
d. : an experience of spiritual purification and renewal
e. Christian Science : purification by or submergence in Spirit
2. : an act, experience, or ordeal by which one is purified, sanctified, initiated, or named
the baptism of the gutter — W.B.Yeats
giving bomber crews their baptism in mock atomic warfare — New York Times
the official baptism of a new battleship