According to the Cambridge Dictionary, Puritans can be defined as a member of an English religious group in the 16th and 17th centuries who wanted to make church ceremonies simpler, and who believed that self-control and hard work were essential and that pleasure was wrong or unnecessary. You cannot always define something by a dictionary. There is usually so much more associated with the word than what the dictionary includes. Stereotypes are an example of this. A stereotype of a Puritan may be that they're boring. This may or may not be accurate. Predestination, calling, covenant, Protestant ethic, and conversion can also define a Puritan.
             Predestination is the Calvinist doctrine that God has foreordained some people be saved and some to be damned. The Puritans adopted the idea of predestination. Since God was all-good, and humans naturally had original sin, God had already decided who was destined for hell and promised eternal bliss. Those marked to go to hell could not be saved no matter how much good they did throughout their lifetime. The elect had no idea where they were destined to go, and neither did those eternally damned. Because of this, all Puritans who adopted this doctrine sought conversion. Conversion is a religious turn to God involving an intense, identifiable personal experience. It was thought that once you experienced conversion, you would be able to tell where your soul was destined to reside for eternity. After conversion, and it was shown to the Puritans where their souls were destined, all of the saved individuals had a religious obligation to engage in worldly work. This was known as calling. Once converted, the Puritan was expected to proclaim their experience publicly and lead godly lives. This was known as becoming a visible saint. Only visible saints were allowed to attend church services. This was only in the New World, though.
             In England, all the people could attend the Church of England. This an...