noun
- JohnJean Chauvin or Caulvin, 1509–64, French theologian and reformer in Switzerland: leader in the Protestant Reformation.
- Melvin,1911–97, U.S. chemist: Nobel Prize 1961.
- a male given name: from a Latin word meaning “bald.”
noun
- John, original name Jean Cauvin, Caulvin, or Chauvin. 1509–64, French theologian: a leader of the Protestant Reformation in France and Switzerland, establishing the first presbyterian government in Geneva. His theological system is described in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536)
- Melvin. 1911–97, US chemist, noted particularly for his research on photosynthesis: Nobel prize for chemistry 1961
John Calvin (1509-1564), Protestant leader, born Jean Caulvin, the surname related to French Chauvin (cf. chauvinism), from Latin calvus “bald,” from PIE *kle-wo- “bald.”
- American chemist who won a Nobel Prize in 1961 for determining the chemical reactions that occur during photosynthesis. This series of reactions is now known as the Calvin cycle.