communicant

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈmjuːnɪkənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

communicant (plural communicants)

1. (Christianity) A person who receives (or is allowed to receive) the elements (i.e., bread and wine) of the sacrament of Holy Communion. (Compare also these terms: communion, Communion, Lord's Supper, Mass, Eucharist, Divine Liturgy.)
   • 1706 August 30, Francis Atterbury, a sermon preached at the funeral of Mr. Bennett

     a never-failing monthly communicant

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     Meanwhile, the lass grew up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I have heard Dr. Chrystal say that he never had a communicant more full of the things of the Spirit.

   • 1986 December 14, Don Hill, “For Gay and Lesbian Catholics, Perseverance Means Carving Their Own Niche”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 22, page 8:

     The folded hands and submissive posture of the orderly line of communicants.

2. One who communicates.
   • 1974, John Boorman, Zardoz, London: Pan Books, page 94:

     Each was a messenger and communicant with a special branch of knowledge.

   • 1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], →OCLC:

     partakers communicant with the bodie of Christ

   • 2013, Al Cooper, Sex and the Internet: A Guide Book for Clinicians, page 215:

     These cyberforums are asynchronous; that is, contributors post (i.e., publish a text message) without the need for fellow communicants to be online at the same time.

Derived terms

• noncommunicant

Translations

person who receives Communion

• Esperanto: komuniiĝanto, komuniiĝantino (female)
• French: communiant (fr) m, communiante (fr) f
• German: Kommunikant m, Kommunikantin f, Abendmahlsgast m, Abendmahlsgästin f, Abendmahlsgänger m, Abendmahlsgängerin f, Abendmahlsbesucher m, Abendmahlsbesucherin f, Abendmahlsteilnehmer m, Abendmahlsteilnehmerin f, Teilnehmer am heiligen Abendmahl m, Teilnehmerin am heiligen Abendmahl f
• Indonesian: komunikan (id)
• Polish: komunikant (pl) m
• Spanish: comulgante m or f
• Volapük: komuinan (vo), hikomuinan (male), jikomuinan (female)

one who communicates

• Indonesian: komunikan (id)

Adjective

communicant (not comparable)

1. Communicating.
   • c. 1828, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notes on Field on the Church:

     The co-eternal Son of the living God, incarnate, tempted, crucified, resurgent, communicant of his spirit, ascendant, and obtaining for his church the descent of the Holy Ghost.

Translations

communicating

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cōmmunicāns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkɔ.my.niˈkɑnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: com‧mu‧ni‧cant
• Rhymes: -ɑnt

Noun

communicant m (plural communicanten, diminutive communicantje n)

1. (Christianity, chiefly Roman Catholicism) a communicant, one receiving Holy Communion

   Synonym: communieganger

Descendants

• → Indonesian: komunikan

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

communicant (feminine communicante, masculine plural communicants, feminine plural communicantes)

1. communicating

   vases communicants (communicating vessels)

Further reading

• “communicant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Verb

commūnicant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of commūnicō