Millerite

From Miller + -ite.

Millerite (plural Millerites)

1. (Christianity) One who followed the calculations of William Miller or his followers that the world would end on October 22, 1844; when it did not, the Great Disappointment occurred. The subsequent denominations his movement spawned include the Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and the (Campbellite) Restorationists.
   • 1924, Clara Endicott Sears, chapter 8, in Days of Delusion - A Strange Bit of History‎^[1]:

     The voices of the Millerites were heard singing and shouting and exhorting each other to stand firm, and to see to it that their lamps were trimmed and burning, ready for the awful moment whenever it might come. Still - nothing happened!

   • 1981 October 3, William Claiborne, “U.S. Settlers in Palestine 100 Years Ago”, in The Washington Post‎^[2], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 February 2026:

     The first American colony in Palestine was established by a Philadelphia matron, Clorinda S. Minor, who apparently was influenced by an apocalypse-preaching movement called the Millerites, according to Mordechai Naor, an Israeli historian who has written 16 books on Palestine and is writing another on the American colonies here.

2. A resident of any community known as Miller; often specifically a resident of Miller Beach, in Gary, Indiana
   • 1954 October 10, “Gary Officials Hunt Deer in Dune Dispute”, in Chicago Tribune, page S1:
   • 1979, James B. Lane, City of the Century: A History of Gary, Indiana, page 46:

     On the other hand, Millerites succeeded in resisting annexation at this time.

   • 2003 July 7, Ricardo Cazares, “Beauty in Gary”, in Chicago Tribune‎^[3], archived from the original on 5 March 2016, page 15:

     As a Millerite living within one block from the beach, Miller Beach is truly a hidden treasure in Northwest Indiana.