Standard Lemma guide

docetism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • General-American: /doʊˈsiːtɪz(ə)m/
  • General-American: /ˈdoʊsɪˌtɪz(ə)m/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /dəʊˈsiːtɪz(ə)m/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈdəʊsɪˌtɪz(ə)m/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The belief that Jesus was fully divine and only appeared or pretended to be human and to suffer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: Christianity

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the heretical doctrine (associated with the Gnostics) that Jesus had no human body and his sufferings and death on the cross were apparent rather than real

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: heresy, unorthodoxy, theological doctrine

History

Etymology

From Docetae + -ism, from Late Latin Docetae, from Koine Greek Δοκηταί (Dokētaí) coined 197–203 CE by Serapion of Antioch, from Ancient Greek δοκεῖν (dokeîn, “to seem, to appear”). Related to latter component of synecdoche.