paganism

Paganism refers to religions other than Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. Any religion that’s outside of the mainstream is considered paganism. Wiccans and Druids are but a few of the people who practice paganism, but many pagan religions have been retired.

  • Pronunciation: /'pegən,ɪzəm /
  • English description: any of various religions other than Christianity or Judaism or Islamism
  • Synonyms: heathenism
  • Chinese Translation:  异教(yi4 jiao4)
  • Spanish Translation: el paganismo
  • ORIGIN: Paganism is a loose term that lumps together many religions and belief systems. This term was often used in a derogatory way — especially by Christians — for faiths that existed before Jesus. The term pagan is related to the Latin word for “rural” because country people held on to the old religions for longer. In paganism, polytheism — a group of gods — was more common than the monotheism that followed. Paganism is also called heathenism.

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

  • The militants declare that such ancient relics promote idolatry and say they are destroying them as part of their purge of paganism.
  • A picture of four young beauties dancing naked under a drippy midnight sky suggests the 19th-century vogue for playing at paganism.

*New word description, story and part of "EXAMPLE SENTENCE" are cited in Vocabulary.com