Bantu 
African family of tongues. The most m.irk<-ii pe- 
culiarity of these languages is their prevailing ue <>l pre- 
fixes instead of suffixes in derivation mid inflection. 
Those nf Ihc-iii that border on tin- llotti-ntot emphu 
clleks or ducks as alphabetic elements. Also calleil Chu- 
niui anil y.iit'K't n , 
banxring (haugks'ring), n. [Native name.] 
A name of a squirrel-like insectivorous mam- 
mal of Java, the Tupain jiii'diiii-n. Also culled 
banysriny and xiiixrini/. See '1'n/Miiiiln: 
banyan 1 , . See i>u>n<ni\. 
banyan'-', banyan-tree, . See banian". 
baobab (ba'o-bab), w. [Formerly also li/ilto- 
liab ; a native African name.] An African tree, 
the A<kt><soiii<t </ii/iliitn, belonging to the tribe 
Bombacete, natural order Mali-iimi; also called 
the Ethiopian sour-gourd, and in South Africa 
the cream-of-tartar tree. It is a native of tropical 
Africa, :ind has been intriHlueecl anil naturalized in various 
parts of l IK- Cast anil West Indies. It is one of the largest 
trees in the world, being often found :t(i feet in diameter, 
though it grows to a height of only from 40 to 70 feet. The 
branches shoot out from (JO to 70 feet, bearing a dense 
445 
baptistic 
Baobab of Madagascar (Adansanta Madagascaritttsis). 
mass of deciduous leaves, somewhat similar to those of 
the horse-chestnut. The white flowers are from 4 to 6 
inches broad, and the oblong gourd-like fruit, about a 
foot in length, is eaten by monkeys, and hence is called 
monkey-bread (which see). The juice of the fruit mixed 
with sugar is much esteemed as a beverage ; and the pulp, 
which is pleasantly acid, is eaten, and is employed as a 
remedy In Egyptian dysentery. The dried and powdered 
mucilaginous bark and leaves are used by the negroes, 
under the name of lalo, on their food, like pepper, to dimin- 
ish perspiration ; and the strong fiber of the bark is made 
into ropes and cloth. The only other known species of 
this genus are the Australian sour-gourd or cream-of-tartar 
tree, Adanxonia Qregorii, which differs chiefly in its 
smaller fruit, and the Madagascar baobab, A. Madagaa- 
carirnxis, which has red flowers. 
bap (bap), n. [Sc. ; origin unknown.] A roll 
of bread of various shapes, costing generally a 
halfpenny or a penny. 
The young baker who brings the baps in the mornings. 
Blackwood'i Mag., XXV. 392. 
baphe (ba'fe), n. . [< Gr. ftafiii, a dye, dyeing, 
dipping in dye, a dipping, < flairTEtv, dip : see 
baptize.] The brilliant red color used in illu- 
minating ancient manuscripts. 
Baphomet (baf'6-met), n. [F. Baphomet; Pr. 
Bafomet. OSp. Mafomat, regarded as a corrup- 
tion of Mahomet. Cf. Mahound and Mammet.'] 
The imaginary idol or symbol which the Tem- 
plars were accused of worshiping. By some mod- 
ern writers the Templars are charged with a depraved 
Gnosticism, and the word Baphomet has had given to it 
the signification of baptism of wisdom (as if < Gr. 3acf>7j, 
baptism, + I^TU, wisdom), baptism of fire ; in other words, 
the Gnostic baptism, a species of spiritual illumination. 
But this and the other guesses are of no value. The word 
may be a manipulated form of Mahomet, a name which 
took strange shapes in the middle ages. 
Baphometic (baf-o-met'ik), a. [< Baphomet.'] 
Of or pertaining to Baphomet, or to the rites 
in which it was supposed to be employed. 
It is from this hour that I incline to date my spiritual 
new-birth or Baphometic Fire-baptism ; perhaps I directly 
thereupon began to be a man. 
Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, p. 117. 
Bapta (bap'ta), n. [NL., < Gr. /JaTrroo, dipped, 
dyed, verbal adj. of /M^rero, dip.] A genus of 
geometrid moths. The white piuion-spotted moth 
Is B. biinactilata ; the clouded silver-moth is B. punctata. 
baptise, r. t. See baptize. 
Baptisia (bap-tiz'i-a), n. [NL., < Gr. /3<i7mo-<f, a 
dipping (dyeing! c'f. /3anror, dyed), < /fanrffov, 
thai-tie and emetic. Some IpadM, es|M-cially the blui-tlow- 
rn-il /;. inixlnilit. an- oi-i-uxionally cultivated in gardens. 
baptism (bap'ti/.m), n. [< ME. iHiplixiiii- (usu- 
ally and earlier Im/ilim, btiptym, li(iptrin), < OF. 
iiiiti-iin; Ixitcsmr, hiiti-mr (mod. F. 
of baptism. Baptismal Shell, a real shell polished or 
a small metal vessel in tin- shape of a scallop-shell 
to take water from the font and pour it upon the head of 
the candidate in baptism. Baptismal VOWS, the prom- 
[Ml Niaile at MpttBD by the per.-.in bajiti/i-d, t.r by the 
>'t'>ii-ors in his name. 
hn/ili : iHi-), < 1,1,. hiiiilimiti, < (Jr. .lii-nm,,,. nlso baptismally (Imp-tiy.'mal-i), ,'/>. In or through 
Christian church, instituted by Christ as an ini- baptize: see baptize.} 1. One who administers 
tiatory rite, consisting in the immersion of the baptism : the title (with a capital letter) of 
person in water, or in the application of water J ll > the forerunner of Christ, 
to the person by affusion or by sprinkling, by an Him the Baptist soon descried. Milton, P. R., L 25. 
authorized administrator, " in the name of the 2. [cap.] A member or an adherent of one of 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." those Christian denominations which maintain 
The proper signification of the rite the proper subjects that baptism can be administered onlv upon a 
of it, and the proper method* of administering it, are mat- .. 
lers of dispute in the Christian church. In Protestant l> ersollal profession of Christian faith. Qmm 
churches it is generally regarded as a symbol of purinca- W 'hough not always, Baptists are immersionUts. This 
doctrine has been held from a very early age of the Chris- 
tion, a rite of initiation into the visible church of Christ, 
and a sign ratifying (!od s covenant with his people. In the 
I .'oinan Catholic Church baptism is the sacrament of inltia- 
ti"ii into the church of Christ, consisting essentially in the 
application of water to the person baptized by one'having 
the intention of conferring the sacrament, and who pro- 
nounces at the same time the words, "N., I baptize " 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
nhost." TheGreekformula/'Theservant of God is baptized 
in the name," etc., is also recognized as valid. In all branches 
of thechurch a layman may, in case of necessity.administer 
baptism. In the Roman Catholic, Greek, and most Protes- 
tant churches, infant children are admitted to baptism ; 
but among the various Baptist denominations only those 
are admitted who give credible evidence of possessing a 
( 'hristian experience. Among them, also, it is generally per- 
formed by immersion, which they regard as the Scriptural 
mode. This is also the common mode in the Eastern 
churches; in the Western churches sprinkling or pouring 
is commonly substituted. The Friends reject ali baptism 
with water, regarding Christian baptism as spiritual only. 
Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of dif- 
ference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others 
that be not christened, but it is also a sign of Regenera- 
tion or New-Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that 
receive Baptixm rightly are grafted into the Church ; the 
promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to 
be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed 
and sealed ; Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by 
virtue of prayer unto God. 
Articles of Religion of Ch. of Eng. and Prot. Epis. Ch. 
We believe in ... baptism to be administered to be- 
lievers and their children, as the sign of cleansing from 
sin, of union ' 
tian church; but the Baptists as a distinct denonihia 
tion date from the epoch of the Reformation, and were 
originally called Analtaptists by their opponent*. In the 
Tinted States the Baptists owe their origin to Roger 
. Williams, who was originally a minister of the Church of 
thee England. The principal Baptist denominations are the 
jlojv Baptists, sometimes called Calvinint Iiapti*ts, from their 
tiled I'afvinistic theology ; Freeirill Baptists, who are Anninian 
in theology and OJKMI e'linmiinionisto in practice; German 
Kijittxts, popularly called Dvnlcers; General Baptists, e. 
party of English Baptists who are Anninian in tneology 
and hold to a general atonement (opposed to Particular 
Baptists, who are C'alvinistic) ; Old-School Baptists, some- 
times called Anti-Mission or Hard-Shell Baptists, from 
their extreme Calvinism, which leads them to oppose all 
active measures for the conversion of the world (a sect 
numbering 40,000) ; Seventh-Day Baptists, who keep the 
seventh day, instead of the first, as the sabbath; Six- 
Principle Baptists, so called from the six principles which 
constitute their creed (they practise " laying on of hands," 
and refuse communion to all who do not); Disciples of 
Christ, also called Christians or Campbellites, an American 
denomination growing out of the labors of Alexander 
Campbell, and separately organized in 1827; Winebren- 
neriani, or Church of God (organized in 1830 by John 
Winebrenner), who maintain the washing of feet as an 
ordinance of perpetual obligation ; and Christians, or the 
Christian Connection, an American sect of Unitarian Bap- 
tists founded about 1800. The Baptists are congregational 
in polity, and generally Calvinistic or semi-Calvinistic in 
theology. Those of Great Britain do not generally regard 
baptism by immersion as a prerequisite to communion, and 
therefore commune with other churches ; but the opposite 
position is, with few exceptions, adopted by the Baptists 
of the United States. The former are popularly ca" 
communwnists, the latter cloge-communioniits. 
2. Any ceremonial ablution intended as a sign baptistery, baptistry (bap'tis-ter-i, -tri), n. ; pi. 
of purification, dedication, etc.: as, the baptism baptisteries, baptistries (-iz, -triz). [< L. baptis- 
administered by John the Baptist, or that ad- terium.e, place for bathing (LL. in eccl. sense), 
ministered to proselytes by the ancient Jews; < Gr. pavTioTr/piov, < fiairri^eiv, baptize: see " 
the baptism or christening of bells, ships, and 
other objects in the Roman Catholic Church, etc. 
The publicans justified God, being baptized with the 
baptism of John. Luke vii. 29. 
Baptism for the dead, the baptism of a living person 
instead of and for the sake of one who has died unbaptized. 
The performance of such a ceremony, although disapproved 
by the church, is on record in a number of individual 
cases among the early Christians, and is also said to have 
been a custom of several ancient sects, the Ebionites, Mar- 
cionites, and others. In modern times it has been revived 
by the Monnons. This practice has been supposed by 
many to be alluded to in 1 Cor. xv. 29, but other expla- 
nations of the passage have been given. Baptism of 
blood, martyrdom for the sake of Christ, regarded as sup- 
plying the absence of the sacrament of baptism. Baptism 
Of desire, the virtue or grace of baptism received by a 
person who dies earnestly desiring that sacrament, but 
unable to obtain it. Baptism Of flre. (a) The gift or 
gifts of the Holy Spirit ; the grace of baptism considered 
separately from the outer form, (b) Martyrdom. Clinic 
or clinical baptism, baptism on a sick-bed. In the early 
church this was allowed only in case of impending death, 
and was sometimes refused even then, except to persons 
already candidates. Such baptism was recognized as 
valid ; but a person so baptized was not ordinarily eligible 
to orders, perhaps because it was judged that fear had 
induced the reception of the sacrament. Conditional 
baptism (also called hypothetical baptism\ in the Roman 
Catholic and Anglican churches, baptism administered to 
persons in respect to whom it is doubtful whether they 
have been baptized or not, or whose known baptism is of 
doubtful validity. The condition is then regularly insert- 
ed in the formula: "If thouart not baptized, "etc. Pri- 
vate baptism, baptism conferred in the home or else- 
where, without the ceremonies prescribed for the rite of 
solemn baptism in the church. Seal Of baptism, (a) 
The rite of unction in baptism. (6) Same as baptismal 
character (which see, under baptismal). 
baptismal (bap-tiz'mal), a. [< baptism + -al; = 
F. baptismal.'] Pertaining to baptism : as, "the 
baptismal vow," Hammond. Baptismal charac- 
ter, a spiritual and indelible mark attaching to the souls 
of baptized Christians from their reception of the sacra- 
ment. This term is used officially by the Roman Cath- 
olic Church, and also by theologians of the Greek, Ori- 
ental, and Anglican churches, to express the doctrine of 
those churches that a baptized person can for good or for 
Baptistery of the Duomo, Pisa, Italy. 
tize.~\ A building or a portion of a building in 
which is administered the rite of baptism, in 
the early Christian church the baptistery was distinct from 
the church-building, and was situated near its west end ; 
it was generally circular or octagonal in form, and dome- 
roofed. About the end of the sixth century the baptistery 
began to be absorbed in the church, within which the font 
was placed, not far from the western door. The detached 
baptistery was, however, often preserved, especially in 
Italy : and many such baptisteries still remain in use, as 
that of St. John Lateran in Rome, and those of the cathe- 
drals of Pisa, Florence, etc. As a separate building the 
baptistery was often of considerable size and great archi- 
tectural beauty ; that of Florence is 108 feet In external 
diameter. In the West, baptisteries were in early tunes 
commonly dedicated to St. John the Baptist. See/ontl 
uiuse cimrciies mat a napu/eu person can lor gooa or lor * ^ -, ., 
evil never he as one unbaptized, and that the sacrament DaptlStlC, baptlStlcal (bap-tis tlk, -tl-kal), O. 
cannot be repeated without sacrilege. Also called the [< Gr. /IcmTioTmof, < /iairrtOTJK, baptist : see bap- 
