zealot Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a member of an ancient Jewish sect in Judea in the first century who fought to the death against the Romans and who killed or persecuted Jews who collaborated with the Romans
  2. noun a fervent and even militant proponent of something
    partisan; drumbeater.

WordNet

Zeal"ot noun
Etymology
F. zélote, L. zelotes, Gr. . See Zeal.
Definitions
  1. One who is zealous; one who engages warmly in any cause, and pursues his object with earnestness and ardor; especially, one who is overzealous, or carried away by his zeal; one absorbed in devotion to anything; an enthusiast; a fanatical partisan.
    Zealots for the one [tradition] were in hostile array against zealots for the other. Sir J. Stephen.
    In Ayrshire, Clydesdale, Nithisdale, Annandale, every parish was visited by these turbulent zealots. Macaulay.

Webster 1913