I. |nazə|rēn noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English Nazaren, from Late Latin Nazarenus, from Greek Nazarēnos, from Nazareth, Nazeret Nazareth, town in ancient Palestine
1. capitalized : a native or resident of Nazareth in Galilee, Palestine
Jesus Christ, the Nazarene
2. usually capitalized
a. : a follower of Jesus of Nazareth : christian
b. : a member of an early sect of Jewish-Christians holding that Christians of Jewish descent should observe the Jewish law
c. : a member of a sect of pietistic, pacifistic Christians in Hungary
d. : a member of the Church of the Nazarene, a Protestant Cristian denomination deriving from the merging in 1907-8 of three independent holiness groups and adhering closely to the original teachings of Methodism (as the doctrines of holiness and sanctification)
3. usually capitalized : one of a group of 19th century German painters in Rome seeking to restore Christian art to its medieval purity
II. adjective
Usage: usually capitalized
: of or relating to Nazareth or the Nazarenes