nōˈvāshən noun
( -s )
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin novatianus, from Novatianus, 3d century antipope and founder of the sect
: one of an early Christian schismatic sect existing from A.D. 251 to the 6th or 7th century that denied that the church should restore lapsed Christians to membership and advocated a rigidly purist conception of church membership