azymite

From Latin azȳmita, from Ancient Greek ἀζῡμίτης (azūmítēs), from ἄζῡμος (ázūmos)^[1] + -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs, suffix forming masculine nouns meaning being connected to or a member of something, or coming from a particular place). ἄζῡμος is derived from ᾰ̓- (a-, the alpha privativum, a prefix forming words having a sense opposite to the word or stem to which it is attached) + ζύμη (zúmē, “leaven, yeast”) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns of result or abstract nouns of action). The English word is analysable as, by surface analysis, a- +‎ zym- +‎ -ite or azyme +‎ -ite.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæzɪmaɪt/
• Hyphenation: azy‧mite

azymite (plural azymites)

1. (Eastern Orthodoxy, historical, derogatory) One who administers the Eucharist with unleavened bread, in particular a member of the Latin Church or Roman Catholic Church.

   Antonyms: fermentarian, prozymite

   • 1843, Catherine Charlotte Maberly, Melanthe; or, The Days of the Medici: A Tale of the Fifteenth Century, volume 1, page 248:

     “Shall we drink a cup in honour of the Holy Virgin, and confusion to the Azymites?” / “Yes, yes! shouted the multitude. “Away with the Azymites—we want no new religion here;” and, singing and shouting, they threw up their caps in the air, […]

   • 1898, Joseph Epiphane Darras, Martin John Spalding, Charles Ignatius White, A General History of the Catholic Church: From the Commencement of the Christian Era to the Twentieth Century, volume 3, page 602:

     “Away with them!” cried the Greeks; “we want no Latin allies! Away with the worship of the azymites!”

   • 1916, Rothay Reynolds, My Slav Friends, page 15:

     Moreover, the Azymites were often guilty of another monstrous crime: they fasted judaistically on Saturdays.

The word was used pejoratively by some members of the Eastern Orthodox Church to refer to members of the Latin Church or Roman Catholic Church.

• Azymite

• azymite on Wikipedia.Wikipedia