af·fu·sion

(ə-fyo͞o′zhən)

A pouring on of liquid, as in baptism.

[Late Latin affūsiō, affūsiōn-, from Latin affūsus, past participle of affundere, to pour on : ad-, ad- + fundere, to pour; see gheu- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

affusion

(əˈfjuːʒən)

(Ecclesiastical Terms) the baptizing of a person by pouring water onto his head. Compare aspersion³, immersion

[C17: from Late Latin affūsiōn- a pouring upon, from affundere, from fundere to pour]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

af•fu•sion

(əˈfyu ʒən)

n.

the pouring on of water or other liquid, as in baptism.

[1605–15; < Late Latin affūsiō < Latin affu(n)d(ere) to pour on]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

affusion - the act of baptizing someone by pouring water on their head

baptism - a Christian sacrament signifying spiritual cleansing and rebirth; "most churches baptize infants but some insist on adult baptism"

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References in periodicals archive

The earliest Baptist communions practiced baptism by affusion, pouring water three times over the head of the new believer.

Sex, Class, and Religious Freedom: Daniel Featley vs. the Early Baptists

Whereas that difference relates, as it were, to the effects or consequences of baptism, a separate question may be asked about the conditions for baptism, i.e., whether baptism is essentially a rite of repentance, as might be implied in what we know from the New Testament about the teaching of John the Baptist, whether it depends upon being able to make a credible profession of faith (and how this point is worked out in relation to those with learning disabilities), and how significant the amount of water used (i.e., affusion or immersion) is to the perceived reality of the rite.

The exclusive baptism of believers: some questions for wider discussion

She motioned him, the only one to opt not for affusion but for full immersion, to join her waist-deep in sparkling gray-blue lake water, watched by townsfolk he had never met before, despite having lived on Main Street for almost seven years.

The Hindu Gets Baptized

The Thalassa Escape package at BD185 ($490) net per couple) includes eight treatments in one day of therapy, including multi jet hydrobath, affusion shower, seaweed wrap, 30 minutes of Swedish massage and access to the seawater hydro pool.

Enjoy spring offers with Sofitel Bahrain

I went for the 20-minute Affusion Shower (BD25) where warm droplets of seawater fell like a fine rain on my outstretched body as the therapist gave me a toe to head massage.

Seawater cures for tired bodies

Patristic writers allowed affusion in clinical baptism, although it seems to have involved a considerable amount of water poured over the patient.

Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries