protest (n.)

c. 1400, "avowal, pledge, solemn declaration," from Old French protest, from protester, from Latin protestari "declare publicly, testify, protest," from pro- "forth, before" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before") + testari "testify," from testis "witness" (see testament).

Meaning "statement of disapproval" is recorded by 1751. By late 19c. this was mostly restricted to "a solemn or formal declaration against some act or course of action."

The adjectival sense of "expressing of dissent from, or rejection of, prevailing social, political, or cultural mores" is by 1942, in reference to U.S. civil rights movement (in protest march); protest rally from 1960. Protest vote, "vote cast to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current system," is by 1905 (in reference to Socialist Party candidates).

Because they now fully understood the power of the picket line, they were ready and anxious to march on Washington when A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, advanced the idea in January 1941 of organizing a Negro protest march on Washington, because Government officials from the President down to minor bureau chiefs, had persistently evaded the issue of combating discrimination in defense industries as well as the Government itself. As the time for the event drew nearer some of the heads of the Government became alarmed; Randolph reported that a ranking New Dealer had told him many Government officials were asking, "What will they think in Berlin?" [Statement of Edgar G. Brown, Revenue Revision of 1942 hearings, 77th Congress, 2nd session]

also from c. 1400

protest (v.)

mid-15c., protesten, "to declare or state formally or solemnly, bear witness or testimony to," from Old French protester and directly from Latin protestari "declare publicly, testify, protest" (see protest (n.)). Original sense preserved in to protest one's innocence. The meaning "make a solemn or formal declaration (often in writing) in condemnation of an act or measure, proposed or accomplished," is from c. 1600. The word's association with marches and rallies arose in 20c. Related: Protested; protesting.

also from mid-15c.

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testament (n.)

late 13c., in law, "last will, expressing the final disposition of one's property," from Latin testamentum "a last will, publication of a will," from testari "make a will, be witness to," from testis "witness," generally accepted to be from PIE *tri-st-i- "third person standing by," from root *tris- "three" (see three) on the notion of "third person, disinterested witness."

Use of testament in reference to the two divisions of the Bible (early 14c.) is from Late Latin vetus testamentum and novum testamentum, loan-translations of Greek palaia diathēkē and kainē diathēkē. But here Late Latin testamentum is a confusion of the two meanings of Greek diathēkē, which meant both "covenant, dispensation" and "will, testament." Testament had been used in the sense of "covenant between God and mankind" in English from early 14c. (as in the account of the Last Supper; see testimony), but the word subsequently was interpreted as Christ's "last will."

Protestant (n., adj.)

as a noun, in the broadest sense, "member or adherent of a Christian body descended from the Reformation of the 16c. and repudiating papal authority," 1539, from German or French protestant, from Latin protestantem (nominative protestans), present participle of protestari (see protest (n.)).

Originally used of German princes and free cities who declared their dissent from ("protested") the decision of the Diet of Speyer (1529), which reversed the liberal terms allowed Lutherans in 1526.

When forced to make their choice between obedience to God and obedience to the Emperor, they were compelled to choose the former. [Thomas M. Lindsay, "A History of the Reformation," New York, 1910]

The word was taken up by the Lutherans in Germany (Swiss and French preferred Reformed). It became the general word for "adherents of the Reformation in Germany," then "member of any Western church outside the Roman (or Greek) communion;" a sense attested in English by 1553.

In the 17c., 'protestant' was primarily opposed to 'papist,' and thus accepted by English Churchmen generally; in more recent times, being generally opposed to 'Roman Catholic,' or ... to 'Catholic,' ... it is viewed with disfavour by those who lay stress on the claim of the Anglican Church to be equally Catholic with the Roman. [OED]

Often contemptuous shortened form Prot is from 1725, in Irish English. Related: Protestancy. Protestant (work) ethic (1926) is taken from Max Weber's work "Die protestantische Ethik und der 'Geist' des Kapitalismus" (1904). Protestant Reformation attested by 1680s.

protestation

protester

*per-

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