Quick Definition
βαπτισμός, οῦ, ὁ n.m. dipping, washing
Strong's Definition
from 907; ablution (ceremonial or Christian)
KJV Usage: baptism, washing
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, m. | -οῦ | βάπτω
53.31 · Religious Activities · Purify, Cleanse
to wash, to purify, washing, purification to wash (in some contexts, possibly by dipping into water), with a view to making objects ritually acceptable There is some doubt as to the precise extent to which βαπτίζω, καταβαπτίζω, and βαπτισμός in MRK 7:4 involve ritual cleansing, but the context would seem to imply this, particularly in view of the relationship of such washing to the rules followed by Jews in general and Pharisees in particular.
53.41 · Religious Activities · Baptize
to baptize, baptism to employ water in a religious ceremony designed to symbolize purification and initiation on the basis of repentance According to the Didache (early second century) different forms of baptism were practiced in the early church, but with evident preference given to immersion.
The baptism practiced by John the Baptist would seem to reflect far more the Jewish pattern of ritual washing than the type of baptism employed by Christians, which constituted a symbol of initiation into the Christian community on the basis of belief in and loyalty to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There seems, however, to be no reason to employ a different expression for baptism in the case of John than in the case of the early Christians. Most translators actually employ a transliterated form of the Greek term βαπτίζω, but in some languages this is both awkward as well as inappropriate, especially if another term or expression has already been employed and is widely accepted by groups practicing various types or forms of baptism. In some languages, for example, one may employ an expression such as ‘to enter the water’ or ‘to undergo the ritual involving water.’ Such expressions do not necessarily imply the quantity of water nor the particular means by which water is applied.
1 βαπτίζω[b] and βαπτισμός[b] should not be confused in meaning with βαπτίζω[a] and βαπτισμός[a] to wash, to purify (53.31). Both sets of meanings involve purification, but only βαπτίζω[b] and βαπτισμός[b] involve initiation into a religious community.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
βαπτισμός 9 don of their past sins and became qualified for the benefits of the Messiah’s kingdom soon to be set up: Mt. iii. 7; xxi. 25; Mk. xi. 30; Lk. vii. 29; xx. 4; Actsi. 22; x. 37; xviii. 25 ; [xix. 3]; βάπτ. μετανοίας, binding to repentance [W. 188 (177)], Mk. i. 4; Lk. iii. 3; Acts xiii. 24; xix. 4. 3. of Christian baptism; this, according to the view of the apostles, is a rite of sacred immersion, commanded by Christ, by which men confessing their sins and professing their faith in Christ are born again by the Holy Spirit unto a new life, come into the fellowship of Christ and the church (1 Co. xii. 13), and are made partakers of eternal salvation; [but see art. “Baptism” in BB.DD., McC. and S., Schaff-Herzog]: Eph. iv. 5; Col. ii. 12 [L mrg. Tr -μῷ q. v.]; 1 Pet. iii. 21; εἰς τὸν θάνατον, Ro. vi. 4 (see βαπτίζω, 11. b. aa. fin.). [Trench § xcix.]
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
βαπτισμός baptismos 4x
pr. an act of dipping or immersion: a baptism, Col. 2:12; Heb. 6:2; an ablution, Mk. 7:4; Heb. 9:10*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
*† βαπτισμός, -οῦ, ὁ
(< βαπτίζω) , prop., the act of which βάπτισμα is the result;
a dipping, washing, lustration: Mk 7:4; of Jewish ceremonial, He 9:10; in He 6:2, βαπτισμῶν διδαχήν (-ῆς), "the pl. and the peculiar form seem to be used to include Christian baptism with other lustral rites" (Westc, in l.).
baptism: FlJ, Ant., 18, 5, 2 (of John's baptism), and some Fathers (v. Soph., s.v.). Not so in NT, unless ἐν τ. βαπτισμῷ, in the act of baptism, Col 2:12, be read with Tr. (Rec., WH, R, -ματι).†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
βαπτισμός. Grimm’s statement that ‘‘among prof. writ. Josephus alone (An//, xviii. 5. 2) uses the word, and of John’s baptism” is traversed by the ordinary text of Plutarch’s A/oralia: see the De Superstitione 3, p..166 A, where he names among superstitions πηλώσεις καταβορβορώσεις βαπτισμούς, ῥίψεις ἐπὶ πρόσωπον, αἰσχρὰς προκαθίσεις, ἀλλοκότους προσκυνήσεις. But, unfortunately, the word is only Bentley’s emendation for σαββατισμούς, according to Bernadakis’ apparatus —was the change necessary ? As distinguished from βάπτισμα in which the result is included, βαπτισμός is the act of immersion (Blass G7. p. 62) ;
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
βαπτισμός (baptismos) — baptism. βαπτ-ισμός, ὁ, dipping in water, immersion, [NT+2nd c.AD+]
2. metaphorically, εἰς κακίας β. οἰχήσεται [Refs]
3. lethargic sleep, Archig.and [Refs 2nd c.BC+]
4. baptism, [Refs 1st c.AD+]