Molokan

[ mol-uh-kahn ]

noun

1. a member of an ascetic religious sect, founded in Russia in the 18th century by former Doukhobors, opposing sacraments and ritual and stressing the authority of the Bible.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Molokan¹

< Russian molokán (now usually molokánin, plural -áne ), equivalent to molok ( ó ) milk + -an noun suffix; originally so named because they ate dairy products on fast days, contrary to Orthodox observance

Example Sentences

His zeal has since carried him to the Molokan colonies on the Amoor, where he has been preaching and teaching for three years with such remarkable results as to have received the title of "a Modern Apostle."

From Project Gutenberg

Why, the fellow must be a Mennonite or a Molokan, though the two, really, are one, and absolutely indistinguishable, as well as equally foolish.

From Project Gutenberg

When I found a Molokan, or some one whom I suspected to be such, I talked for some time about the weather and the crops, as if I had no ulterior object in view.

From Project Gutenberg

"Of course it is better than the Molokan faith."

From Project Gutenberg

This account of the new doctrine was given to me by an intelligent Molokan, who had formerly been a peasant and was now a trader, as I sat one evening in his house in Novo-usensk, the chief town of the district in which Alexandrof-Hai is situated.

From Project Gutenberg