Zionite

English

Etymology

Zion +‎ -ite

Noun

Zionite (plural Zionites)

1. A member of any of various Protestant Christian religious sects, the most notable of which were the Zionites of Wuppertal and the Christ Community Church of Zion, Illinois.
   • 1959, Free Church Publications., The Diamond Jubilee Story of the Evangelical Free Church of America:

     "A further movement of this period is a more localized effort by Christians known as Zionites. The center of the Zionite movement was Drammen where Søren Bølle arrived as an immigrant from Denmark in 1737.

   • 2017, Kyle T. Bulthuis, Four Steeples Over the City Streets: Religion and Society in New York's Early Republic Congregations:

     "In 1819, former Zionite William Lambert traveled to Philadelphia, where Allen ordained him as a traveling preacher."

2. (dated) A Zionist.
   • 1895, Munsey's Magazine, volume 15, page 640:

     "This is the return of the Jews to their ancient home in Palestine--the Zionite movement, as it is called."

   • 1900, The Young Woman's Journal, volume 11, page 382:

     "During the past twenty years the Zionite movement has received an impetus. There have been frequent migrations into Palestine and the Jewish population has increased from fourteen thousand to forty thousand."