Monolatrous

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to the worship of a single deity while not denying that other gods exist
2. Practicing devotion to one god alone, without rejecting the existence of rival deities
3. Describing a religious practice that honors one chief god among many recognized gods

Etymology: Ancient Greek "latreuein" first meant to serve someone for wages, the work of a hired labourer, and only later came to mean serving a god through worship. That shift from paid service to devotion lies behind "monolatrous", which combines Greek "monos", meaning "single" or "alone", with "latreia", the service or worship owed to a deity. Monolatry is a modern scholarly term, not an ancient one. It names a belief in which a community worships one god exclusively while accepting that other gods may exist. The distinction matters because monotheism goes further and denies that rival gods exist at all. The adjective adds the English suffix "-ous", which comes from Latin "-osus" through French, to describe a people or practice marked by that exclusive devotion.

Antonyms: polytheistic