latitudinarian

[ lat-i-tood-n-air-ee-uhn, -tyood- ]

adjective

1. allowing or characterized by latitude in opinion or conduct, especially in religious views.

noun

1. a person who is latitudinarian in opinion or conduct.
2. Anglican Church. one of the churchmen in the 17th century who maintained the wisdom of the episcopal form of government and ritual but denied its divine origin and authority.

latitudinarian

/ ˌlætɪˌtjuːdɪˈnɛərɪən /

adjective

1. permitting or marked by freedom of attitude or behaviour, esp in religious matters
2. sometimes capital of or relating to a school of thought within the Church of England in the 17th century that minimized the importance of divine authority in matters of doctrine and stressed the importance of reason and personal judgment

noun

1. a person with latitudinarian views

Derived Forms

• ˌlatiˌtudiˈnarianism, noun

Other Words From

• lati·tudi·nari·an·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of latitudinarian¹

First recorded in 1655–65; from Latin lātitūdin- (stem of lātitūdo “breadth, width”; latitudinal ) + -arian

Word History and Origins

Origin of latitudinarian¹

C17: from Latin lātitūdō breadth, latitude , influenced in form by Trinitarian

Example Sentences

Was James Madison correct that it should dispose us against a latitudinarian interpretation of Congress’s powers?

From Washington Post

The pursuit of perfection is usually foredoomed, but the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, which has a latitudinarian understanding of ethical behavior, has a perfectly awful idea.

From Washington Post

There are a fair number of undramatised biographical passages, which make for bumpy reading, even if one takes a latitudinarian position about the role of information in novelistic prose.

From The Guardian

Those whose creed is of narrower scope are to them hateful bigots; but also those with whom it is of wider are latitudinarians or infidels.

From Project Gutenberg

The trimming character of the latitudinarian, and the violent forwardness of the partisan, would appear to render such a supposition not unreasonable.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• indulgent
• lax
• open-minded
• tolerant