Religioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling for faith and worship practised by a community ; the monastic life or vows taken within a religious order
2. Old spelling of the belief system and devotion of a people ; the cloistered life of monks or nuns bound by religious vows
3. A medieval form meaning organized devotion to a divine power ; the vowed life lived within a monastery or holy order

Etymology: Middle English "religioun" is a Middle English spelling of the word we now write "religion," recorded in the 1200s and taken from Old French "religion," which came from Latin "religio." The Latin word originally meant something close to scrupulous observance of sacred duties, the careful attention owed to the gods and to ritual. Its exact ultimate etymology is debated, and the older idea that it derives from "religare," meaning "to bind," is a popular theory that scholars treat with caution. Across its history the word shifted from a quality of devotion, a person's faithful conduct, toward a named body of beliefs and practices shared by a community. In Middle English the sense often meant a religious order or monastic life, as when someone "entered religion" by becoming a monk or nun, and this sense persisted for centuries alongside the broader meaning.