Protestant

Prot″es‐tant (?), n. [F. protestant, fr. L. protestans, -antis, p. pr. of protestare. See Protest, v.] One who protests; — originally applied to those who adhered to Luther, and protested against, or made a solemn declaration of dissent from, a decree of the Emperor Charles V. and the Diet of Spires, in 1529, against the Reformers, and appealed to a general council; — now used in a popular sense to designate any Christian who does not belong to the Roman Catholic or the Greek Church.