Definition of "papist" [pa•pist]

• Offensive Used as a disparaging term for a Roman Catholic. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "From about the year 1580, besides the term papist, employed with opprobrious intent, the followers of the old religion were often called Romish or Roman Catholics."
• "Perhaps that could be called a papist bull, though hardly with impunity."
• "This preference of hers was so strongly associated with Catholicism that some of her subjects would later question the sincerity of Elizabeth's profession of the Protestant faith because of her fondness for sumptuous "papist" altar cloths. 163"