variants
or less commonly baptise
baptized also baptised; baptizing also baptising
1
religion
: to administer baptism (see baptism sense 1) to
baptize a child in the Episcopal Church
was baptized a Catholic as an infant
2
a
: to purify or cleanse spiritually especially by a purging (see purge entry 1 sense 1) experience or ordeal
… baptized with pain and rapture, tears and fire …—
Sidney Lanier
Sidney Lanier
b
: initiate
Both developments were baptized under last season's conditions of scanty snow …—New York Times
New York Times3
: to give a name to (as at baptism) : christen
They baptized their son "John" after the baby's grandfather.
: to administer baptism
baptizer
noun
Examples of baptize in a Sentence
The priest baptized the baby.
She was baptized at the age of 20.
Recent Examples on the Web
He was baptized in the fire of the SEC, and thrived.
—Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Mar. 2025
We are saved in the water, baptized by the waves, but never capsized by the wakes.
—Outside Online, 5 Mar. 2025
Documented, undocumented, baptized, unbaptized.
—Scott Santarosa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2025
In Georgia, the Orthodox Patriarch offered to personally baptize any baby born to the parents of more than two children.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for baptize
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Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Mar. 2025
We are saved in the water, baptized by the waves, but never capsized by the wakes.
—Outside Online, 5 Mar. 2025
Documented, undocumented, baptized, unbaptized.
—Scott Santarosa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2025
In Georgia, the Orthodox Patriarch offered to personally baptize any baby born to the parents of more than two children.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for baptize
Cite this Entry
“Baptize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/baptize. Accessed 18 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
baptize
verb
bap·tize
bap-ˈtīz 
ˈbap-ˌtīz
baptized; baptizing
1
: to dip in water or sprinkle water on as a part of the ceremony of receiving into the Christian church
2
a
: to make pure in spirit (as by a painful experience)
3
: to give a name to (as in the ceremony of baptism) : christen
baptizer
noun
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