Standard Lemma guide

Calvinism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈkæl.vɪ.nɪ.zəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The Christian religious tradition based upon the doctrines and forms of Christian practice of several Protestant reformers, especially John Calvin, in contrast to Catholicism, Lutheranism, Anabaptism, and Arminianism. One distinctive trait of the system is its Augustinian doctrine of predestination, which teaches that God has elected some for salvation, apart from anything they do or believe.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the theological system of John Calvin and his followers emphasizing omnipotence of God and salvation by grace alone

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Protestantism

History

Etymology

From French calvinisme, equivalent to Calvin + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

43 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: կալվինականություն (kalvinakanutʻyun) — Christian religious tradition
  • Basque: kalbinismo — Christian religious tradition
  • Belarusian: кальвіні́зм (kalʹvinízm) — Christian religious tradition
  • Bulgarian: калвинизъм (kalvinizǎm) — Christian religious tradition
  • Catalan: calvinisme — Christian religious tradition
  • Chinese Mandarin: 加爾文主義 /加尔文主义 (Jiā'ěrwén zhǔyì) — Christian religious tradition
  • Czech: kalvinismus — Christian religious tradition
  • Danish: calvinisme — Christian religious tradition
  • Dutch: calvinisme — Christian religious tradition
  • Esperanto: kalvinismo — Christian religious tradition
  • Estonian: kalvinism — Christian religious tradition
  • Finnish: kalvinismi — Christian religious tradition
  • French: calvinisme — Christian religious tradition
  • Galician: calvinismo — Christian religious tradition
  • Georgian: კალვინიზმი (ḳalvinizmi) — Christian religious tradition
  • German: Calvinismus — Christian religious tradition
  • German: Kalvinismus — Christian religious tradition
  • Greek: καλβινισμός (kalvinismós) — Christian religious tradition
  • Hungarian: kálvinizmus — Christian religious tradition
  • Icelandic: kalvínstrú — Christian religious tradition
  • Indonesian: Kalvinisme — Christian religious tradition
  • Italian: calvinismo — Christian religious tradition
  • Japanese: カルビン主義 (Karubin-shugi) — Christian religious tradition
  • Latin: Calvinismus — Christian religious tradition
  • Latvian: kalvinisms — Christian religious tradition
  • Lithuanian: kalvinizmas — Christian religious tradition
  • Macedonian: калвини́зам (kalvinízam) — Christian religious tradition
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kalvinisme — Christian religious tradition
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kalvinisme — Christian religious tradition
  • Polish: kalwinizm — Christian religious tradition
  • Portuguese: calvinismo — Christian religious tradition
  • Romanian: calvinism — Christian religious tradition
  • Russian: кальвини́зм (kalʹvinízm) — Christian religious tradition
  • Serbo-Croatian: калвинизам — Christian religious tradition
  • Serbo-Croatian: kalvinizam — Christian religious tradition
  • Slovak: kalvinizmus — Christian religious tradition
  • Slovene: kalvinizem — Christian religious tradition
  • Spanish: calvinismo — Christian religious tradition
  • Swedish: kalvinism — Christian religious tradition
  • Turkish: Kalvinizm — Christian religious tradition
  • Ukrainian: кальвіні́зм (kalʹvinízm) — Christian religious tradition
  • Volapük: kalven — Christian religious tradition
  • Welsh: Calfiniaeth — Christian religious tradition