covenanter

[ kuhv-uh-nuhn-ter; Scots kuhv-uh-nan-ter ]

noun

1. a person who makes a covenant.
2. (initial capital letter) Scottish History. a person who, by solemn agreement, pledged to uphold Presbyterianism, especially an adherent of the National Covenant or the Solemn League and Covenant.

Covenanter

/ ˌkʌvəˈnæntə; ˈkʌvənəntə /

noun

1. a person upholding the National Covenant of 1638 or the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643 between Scotland and England to establish and defend Presbyterianism

Word History and Origins

Origin of covenanter¹

First recorded in 1630–40; covenant + -er ¹

Example Sentences

As Senator Henry Cabot Lodge mused, “The blood of some ancestral Scotch Covenanter or of some Dutch Reformed preacher facing the tyranny of Philip of Spain was in his veins, and with his large opportunities and his vast audiences he was always ready to appeal for justice and righteousness.”

From Time

If I had been raised in Scotland, on oatmeal, I might have been a Covenanter—nobody knows.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet this stern old Covenanter was not without a touch of gentleness and even of hilarity.

From Project Gutenberg

David Hackston, the Covenanter, who was a passive assister at the assassination of Archbishop Sharp, belonged to this parish, his place being named Rathillet.

From Project Gutenberg

These irregular whigs, have, therefore, spent their ammunition, as profitably, as the old covenanter spent his, who fired a horse pistol against the walls of Sterling Castle.

From Project Gutenberg