evangelist

[ih-van-juh-list]

noun

1. a Protestant minister or layperson who serves as an itinerant or special preacher, especially a revivalist.

2. a preacher of the gospel.

3. (initial capital letter),  any of the writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) of the four Gospels.

4. (in the primitive church) a person who first brought the gospel to a city or region.

5. (initial capital letter),  a patriarch.

6. a person marked by evangelical enthusiasm for or support of any cause.

evangelist

¹

/ ɪˈvændʒɪlɪst /

noun

1. an occasional preacher, sometimes itinerant and often preaching at meetings in the open air

2. a preacher of the Christian gospel

3. any zealous advocate of a cause

4. another word for revivalist

Evangelist

²

/ ɪˈvændʒɪlɪst /

noun

1. any of the writers of the New Testament Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John

2. a senior official or dignitary of the Mormon Church

Word History and Origins

Origin of evangelist¹

1125–75; Middle English evangeliste < Latin evangelista < Greek euangelistḗs. See evangel ¹, -ist

Example Sentences

The church houses the Salus Populi Romani, a Byzantine icon of the Virgin believed to have been made by St Luke the Evangelist and used by Jesuit orders all over the world.

From BBC

From the hostel terrace, we can see the Basilica of St. John Lateran, its imposing statues of Christ, John the Baptist, and John the Evangelist rising above the rooftops.

From Salon

Depending on planning permission, a new purpose-built parish centre would then be constructed closer to the adjacent St John the Evangelist Church Ballymaghery.

From BBC

Sixteen massive copper statues of the Apostles and Evangelists, which surrounded the spire, were brought down for renovation just four days before the fire.

From BBC

Originally opened in 1728 as the Church of St John the Evangelist, the site was decommissioned as a church and became a concert venue in the 1960s following bomb damage during World War Two.

From BBC

Related Words

• missionary 
• pastor 
• televangelist