Standard Lemma guide
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.
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noun
The state of being, or behavior and thought, of heathens.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Synonyms: heathenry, heathendom, heathenship, paganism
Antonyms: none provided
noun
any of various religions other than Christianity or Judaism or Islamism
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: paganism, pagan religion
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: religion, faith, religious belief
Narrower terms: druidism
History
From heathen + -ism, coined in the 17th century in place of the then-obsolete heathendom. First attested in Francis Bacon's Of the advancement of learning (1605), II. xiv. §9: "The heresy of the Anthropomorphites ... and the opinion of Epicurus, answerable to the same in heathenism, who supposed the gods to be in human shape" (OED).
Across languages
16 source translations are retained for this English entry.
