Doctrine

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈdɒk.tɹɪn/

Definitions

1. A principle or set of beliefs taught and accepted as authoritative by a religious, political, or philosophical group
2. A system of beliefs or teachings, particularly in a religious, political, or philosophical context, that guides the actions and opinions of a group
3. An established set of principles or tenets upheld by a particular organization, influencing its members' conduct and worldview

Etymology: Before "doctrine" meant a set of beliefs, the Latin "doctrina" simply meant teaching, instruction, or learning, and it came from "doctor," a teacher. That Latin noun is itself built on "docere," "to teach," so a doctor and a doctrine share a single ancestral verb. The modern medical sense of "doctor," a physician, is a later specialisation of that same root, which is why the two words are close relatives despite their very different uses today. The word reached English through Old French, which had taken the Latin form over from classical and medieval scholarly Latin. It arrived in Middle English carrying the broad sense of instruction or learning, and the meaning narrowed over time toward the body of teachings a group holds to be true. Its modern use, a system of beliefs guiding a religion, a political movement, or a school of thought, grew out of that earlier idea of a teaching someone is given.

Synonyms: principle, theory, dogma, tenet, belief

Antonyms: doubt, disbelief, skepticism, heresy, agnosticism