Faith & RitualGreek → English
Methodist
/ˈmɛθədɪst/noun
A member of the Protestant churches descended from John Wesley's movement.
The Greek roots
μετά
metá
after, in pursuit of
ὁδός
hodós
way, road
Literally: “one who follows a way”
The story of the word
The name began as a jibe. Oxford students in the 1720s mocked John Wesley's circle for the methodical timetable of prayer, study, fasting and prison visiting they kept to, and the nickname outlived the mockery. Before that, Methodist had labelled a school of ancient physicians who treated by fixed rules rather than by theory. The ὁδός inside μέθοδος, a road, also runs through exodus and odometer.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 18th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
methodexodusodometerperiod
In a sentence
The Methodist chapel at the end of the lane is a carpet showroom now.