Evangelist

How to spell evangelist

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce evangelist

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does evangelist mean?

1. nounA person who preaches the Christian gospel, especially a travelling or revivalist preacher.
2. nounA zealous and vocal advocate for a particular product, technology, or cause.

Evangelist in a sentence

• The touring evangelist filled the stadium for three nights running.

• The company hired a software evangelist to win over developers.

• Her grandfather was a radio evangelist in the 1950s.

• She became a tireless evangelist for cycling to work.

Where does evangelist come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek euangelistes, meaning 'a bringer of good news', which was built from euangelion, literally 'good message' or 'good news', combining eu 'good' with angelos 'messenger'. That same angelos is the source of the everyday word 'angel', so an evangelist is, quite literally, a messenger of good things. The term entered English in the late Old English and early Middle English period through Latin (evangelista) and Old French, used first for the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, who recorded the 'good news' of Christianity. From the Reformation onward it broadened to mean any zealous preacher or travelling promoter of the faith. The spelling trap lives in the unstressed middle: the buried 'angel' is the key, since spelling the heart of the word as 'angel' keeps the otherwise faint vowels in order.

How the word is built

• ev- (from Greek eu-: good)
• angel (from angelos: messenger)
• -ist (one who does)