Big"ot (?), n. [F. bigot a bigot or
hypocrite, a name once given to the Normans in France. Of unknown origin;
possibly akin to Sp. bigote a whisker; hombre de bigote a man
of spirit and vigor; cf. It. s-bigottire to terrify, to appall.
Wedgwood and others maintain that bigot is from the same source as
Beguine, Beghard.]
1. A hypocrite; esp., a superstitious
hypocrite. [Obs.]
2. A person who regards his own faith and views in
matters of religion as unquestionably right, and any belief or opinion
opposed to or differing from them as unreasonable or wicked. In an extended
sense, a person who is intolerant of opinions which conflict with his own,
as in politics or morals; one obstinately and blindly devoted to his own
church, party, belief, or opinion.
To doubt, where bigots had been content to wonder and
believe.
Macaulay.
Big"ot, a. Bigoted. [Obs.]
In a country more bigot than ours.
Dryden.