paganism
/ˈpeɪɡəˌnɪzəm/PAY-guh-nih-zuhm
/ˈpeɪɡəˌnɪzəm/PAY-guh-nih-zuhm
Meaningthe religion of pagans
Common meaning: pagan belief
- paga country district; a villagerLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1290 · scan
- anadjective ending: of, belonging to
- ismnoun ending: belief or practice
Journey through time
- Latinpāgus; pāgānus‘a country district’
- Englishpagan‘a follower of an old or non-Christian religion, a label once used dismissively (once a villager)’
- Englishformed in English from paganpaganism‘pagan belief’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from pagan + -ism.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), PAGAN, p.414 · scan
Roots
- pāgus; pāgānus Latin “a country district; a villager”
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