From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbaptismbap‧tis‧m /ˈbæptɪzəm/ ●○○ noun [countable, uncountable] 1 RRCa Christian religious ceremony in which someone is touched or covered with water to welcome them into the Christian faith, and sometimes to officially name them → christening2 → baptism of/by fire —baptismal /bæpˈtɪzməl/ adjective [only before noun] a baptismal font (=container for holding the water used at baptism)
Examples from the Corpus
baptism• According to Catholic Church statistics, there were about 25,000 baptisms in Havana in 1989.• It is almost impossible to see where events will lead but you are going through a baptism of fire.• He remembered hymns and baptisms down on this lake; religious conversion and arms reaching up in real belief.• He prepares couples for marriage, and children for baptism and communion.• The last three groups were a type of radical Protestant sometimes called Anabaptist, because they did not believe in infant baptism.• For a first Mass it had certainly been a tough baptism. 