Pagan

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈpeɪɡən/

Definitions

1. A follower of a religious or spiritual tradition that is not one of the primary world faiths and often emphasizes the veneration of nature or multiple deities
2. An individual who embraces a belief system distinct from predominant religions, frequently characterized by nature reverence or polytheistic practices
3. A person who practices a belief system centered on multiple gods, spirits, or natural forces ; someone belonging to a faith outside Christianity or the major Abrahamic religions

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "pagan" is that its first meaning had nothing to do with religion. Latin "pāgānus" meant "rural" or "rustic," from "pāgus," a country district, and the word sat in the same family as "peasant." Its opposite was the city-dweller, the polished and courteous "urbane" person, and the word carried a faintly insulting tone of countryside boorishness. The religious sense grew later, probably from the 4th century in Vulgar Latin. Much of the Roman countryside had not yet converted to Christianity, so "pāgānus" came to mean "not Christian." Some scholars think the sense may instead have grown from "civilian": a person outside the "army of Christ," the Christian community pictured as a military force. Either way, a word for country folk became a word for outsiders to the faith. English borrowed the word in Middle English and it partly displaced the native "hǣþen" (heathen), which had the same sense of unbelieving outsider. Modern neopagans have adopted "pagan" as a self-description, a usage attested since 1990.

Synonyms: heathen, infidel, polytheist, idolater, nonbeliever

Antonyms: Christian, believer, theist, monotheist, follower