Agapetæ

Noun

Agapetae pl (plural only)

1. (historical, plural, plural-only) Women of the early Christian church who cohabited in a state of "spiritual love" with clergy or laymen who had vowed chastity.
   • It describes the Agapetae as virgins who consecrated themselves to God with a vow of chastity and associated with laymen who like themselves had taken a vow of chastity.2007, Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Who Is This King of Glory?:, →ISBN, page 175
2. (historical, plural, plural-only) Monks or clergy who cohabited with virgins and widows of the church.
3. (historical, plural, plural-only) A 4th century Spanish sect founded by Agape and her husband Elpidius that rejected the institution of marriage and was deemed heretical for its perceived hedonism. Considered also to be a forerunner of Priscillianism.
   • He was instructed and assisted by Agape, an honourable woman, in carrying on the secret mysteries ; and she was the mother of the Agapetae, or love-feasters ; whose rites became by degrees so very scandalous, that St. Jerome tells Oceanus "you are exposed to the teeth of detractors, unless you...1820, Polwhele, The enthusiasm of Methodists and Papists considered by .Bishop Lavington, page 298

   Synonyms:

   Dilectae, subintroductae