Plural of communicant: people who receive Communion, or multiple people who communicate.
Plural form of 'communicant' from Latin 'communicans.' The plural has been in use since medieval Christian texts.
Church records track 'confirmed communicants' to measure religious participation—it's one of history's clearest examples of how a word can reveal exactly who had power and status in an institution.
Plural masculine default obscured women's participation in religious communion; collective records rarely distinguished gender, erasing women's spiritual labor.
Use 'communicants' as inclusive plural; if analyzing historical records, specify gender breakdown when available to restore visibility.
["people who communicate","communion participants"]
Women formed the majority of regular communicants in medieval and early modern parishes; their numerical and spiritual presence was foundational but administratively minimized.
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