noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
Primarily refers to the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ in Christian contexts. Can also be used figuratively for a devoted follower or pioneer of a cause.
He is known as an apostle of environmental protection.
Peter is one of Jesus' apostles.
He is called an apostle of the peace movement.
使途 (also read しと) means the intended use or purpose of money and is unrelated in meaning to 使徒, an apostle or disciple.
門徒 refers to a believer of a Buddhist sect, whereas 使徒 is specifically a Christian apostle, so the two should not be swapped despite both meaning 'religious follower'.
使徒 means 'apostle', a specific disciple sent to spread a religion's teaching, whereas 信徒 is simply an ordinary lay believer; the two share the kanji 徒 but differ in meaning.
Used for people in formal or enumerative contexts; for this word, counting by people is possible but not especially everyday.
Standard kanji spelling for 'apostle' or 'disciple' in a Christian context.
From Chinese 使徒 (shǐtú), literally 'messenger' or 'envoy'. The term was adopted in Japanese to translate the Christian concept of 'apostle'.