Brewer's: Lollards

The early German reformers and the followers of Wickliffe were so called. An ingenious derivation is given by Bailey, who suggests the Latin word lolium (darnel), because these reformers were deemed “tares in God's wheat-field.”

Gregory XI., in one of his bulls against Wickliffe, urges the clergy to extirpate this lolium.

“The name of Lollards was first given (in 1300) to a charitable society at Antwerp, who lulled the sick by singing to them.” —Dr. Blair: Chronology (under the date 1300).

German lollen, to hum.

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language