| Mormon | ‖prop. n. [ NL., fr. Gr. mormw`n monster, bugbear. ] (Zool.) (a) A genus of sea birds, having a large, thick bill; the puffin. (b) The mandrill. [ 1913 Webster ] |
| Mormon | prop. n. (Eccl.) One of a Christian denomination (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) in the United States, followers of Joseph Smith, who professed to have found an addition to the Bible, engraved on golden plates, called the
Book of Mormon, first published in 1830. The Mormons believe in polygamy, and their hierarchy of apostles, etc., has control of civil and religious matters. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ] ☞ The Mormons call their religious organization The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its head claims to receive revelations of God's will, and to have certain supernatural powers. The church headquarters are in Salt Lake City, Utah. They form a substantial fraction of the population of Utah, and at the end of the 20th centrury their numbers were increasing due to active proselytization. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ] |
| Mormon | n. (Eccl.) A member of a sect, called the Reorganized Church of Jesus of Latterday Saints, which has always rejected polygamy. It was organized in 1852, and is represented in about forty States and Territories of the United States. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] |
