pagan | Definition, meaning & more | Collins Dictionary Definitions 1. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun] Pagan beliefs and activities do not belong to any of the main religions of the world and take nature and a belief in many gods as a basis . They are older , or are believed to be older, than other religions. Synonyms: heathen , infidel , irreligious , polytheistic More Synonyms of pagan 2. countable noun [oft NOUN noun] In former times, pagans were people who did not believe in Christianity and who many Christians considered to be inferior people. ⇒ The new religion was eager to convert the pagan world. ⇒ ...female saints who took vows of virginity rather than submit to an undesired marriage with a pagan. COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers pagan (ˈpeɪɡən ) Definitions noun 1. a member of a group professing a polytheistic religion or any religion other than Christianity , Judaism , or Islam 2. a person without any religion; heathen adjective Pagan dictionary definition | pagan defined ADD TO WORD LIST noun The definition of a pagan is a person who worships many gods or who worships nature and the Earth.

An example of a pagan is someone who celebrates the winter solstice as a religious holiday. pagan a person who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew; heathen: formerly, sometimes applied specif. to a non-Christian by Christians a person who has no religion a person who worships nature or the earth, specif., a neopagan Origin of pagan Middle English ; from Ecclesiastical Late Latin paganus, a heathen, pagan (contrasted with Christian or Jew) ; from L, a peasant, rustic ; from pagus, country ; from Indo-European base an unverified form pak-, to join, enclose, fasten from source fang, Classical Latin pax of pagans or paganism; not Christian, Muslim, or Jewish not religious; heathen » more... Vico undoubtedly considered the poetic wisdom of the Middle Ages to be different from that of the Greeks and Romans, and Christianity to be very superior to the pagan religion.

Only his superb strategy and the heroic devotion of his lieutenants - notably the converted Jew, Jan Samuel Chrzanowski, who held the Ottoman army at bay for eleven days behind the walls of Trembowla - enabled the king to remove "the pagan yoke from our shoulders"; and he returned to be crowned at Cracow on the 14th of February 1676. He passed his time in feasts and pageants, while in a bull the pope denounced him as a criminal, a pagan and a heretic, until, terrified by a slight disturbance on the 15th of December, he abdicated and fled from Rome. She invented a deity of her own, a mysterious Corambe, half pagan and half Christian, and like Goethe erected to him a rustic altar of the greenest grass, the softest moss and the brightest pebbles. 23) to Hospito, their chief, as a still pagan race, worshipping stocks and stones. Pagan | Define Pagan at Dictionary.com pagan noun 1. (no longer in technical use) one of a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks. 2.

a member of a religious, spiritual, or cultural community based on the worship of nature or the earth; a neopagan. 3. (in historical contexts) a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim; a heathen. an irreligious or hedonistic person. an uncivilized or unenlightened person. adjective of, relating to, or characteristic of pagans. 5. Disparaging and Offensive. relating to the worship or worshipers of any religion that is neither Christian, Jewish, nor Muslim. irreligious or hedonistic. (of a person) uncivilized or unenlightened. Origin of pagan Late Latin 1325-1375 1325-75; Middle English < Medieval Latin, Late Latin pāgānus ‘worshiper of false gods’, orig.

‘civilian’ (i.e., not a soldier of Christ), Latin: ‘peasant’, noun use of pāgānus ‘rural, civilian’, derivative of pāgus ‘village, rural district’ (akin to pangere ‘to fix, make fast’); see -an Related forms Synonym Study Expand Heathen and pagan are primarily historical terms that were applied pejoratively, especially by people who were Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, to peoples who were not members of one of those three monotheistic religious groups. Heathen referred especially to the peoples and cultures of primitive or ancient tribes thought to harbor unenlightened, barbaric idol worshipers: heathen rites; heathen idols. Pagan, although sometimes applied similarly to those tribes, was more often used to refer specifically to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who worshiped the multiple gods and goddesses said to dwell on Mount Olympus, such as Zeus and Athena (called Jupiter and Minerva by the Romans). The term was applied to their beliefs and culture as well: a pagan ritual; a pagan civilization.

Contemporary paganism, having evolved and expanded in Europe and North America since the 20th century, includes adherents of diverse groups that hold various beliefs, which may focus, for example, on the divinity of nature or of the planet Earth or which may be pantheistic or polytheistic. In modern English, heathen remains an offensive term, used to accuse someone of being unenlightened or irreligious; pagan, however, is increasingly a neutral description of certain existing and emerging religious movements. Dictionary.com Unabridged paganistically, adverb Word Origin C14: from Church Latin pāgānus civilian (hence, not a soldier of Christ), from Latin: countryman, villager, from pāgus village Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for pagan Expand n.

late 14c., from Late Latin paganus "pagan," in classical Latin "villager, rustic; civilian, non-combatant" noun use of adjective meaning "of the country, of a village," from pagus "country people; province, rural district," originally "district limited by markers," thus related to pangere "to fix, fasten," from PIE root *pag- "to fix" (see pact ). As an adjective from early 15c. Religious sense is often said to derive from conservative rural adherence to the old gods after the Christianization of Roman towns and cities; but the word in this sense predates that period in Church history, and it is more likely derived from the use of paganus in Roman military jargon for "civilian, incompetent soldier," which Christians (Tertullian, c.202; Augustine) picked up with the military imagery of the early Church (e.g. milites "soldier of Christ," etc.). Applied to modern pantheists and nature-worshippers from 1908.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper Paganism - New World Encyclopedia Paganism Next (Pagoda) The cults of all non-Christian deities (such as Dionysus (pictured above) were demonized and persecuted by Christians under the rubric of paganism. Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "a country dweller or rustic") is a term that has been used from antiquity to derogatorily denote polytheistic faiths. Since the term was typically used as a blanket statement to circumscribe all non-Christian (or, more broadly, non-monotheistic) faiths, it served the same pejorative purpose as the Jewish term gentile , the Islamic notions of infidel and kafir, and the multipurpose term heathen. [1] Due to these historically problematic connotations and usages, ethnologists and anthropologists avoid the term "paganism" when referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring to utilize more precise categories (such as polytheism, shamanism, pantheism , or animism ).

Thus, the term's connotations are both stark and polarizing, as it has been used to criticize and demonize the adherents of non-Christian faiths since the first century C.E. 8 Credits Since the later twentieth century, however, the words "pagan," "heathen" and "paganism" have been somewhat rehabilitated, as they are now widely used as self-designations by adherents of polytheistic reconstructionism and neo-paganism—traditions that explicitly define themselves as contrary to the dualistic ethos that spawned these terms in the first place. [2] In this new understanding, pagan traditions are defined by the absence of proselytism and the presence of a living mythology that explains and informs religious practice. [3] Neo-pagans generally profess to respect nature, and to hold all life sacred. Etymology Terracotta figurine of a comic actor masked as a rustic, second century B.C.E.

, found at Canino The term pagan is from Latin paganus, an adjective originally meaning "rural," "rustic" or "of the country." In its nominal form, paganus could be used to describe a "country dweller or villager" or (more colloquially) a "country bumpkin" or "hillbilly." [4] The original meaning is reflected in the Old French cognate paisent, from whence the English word "peasant" is derived. [5] The semantic development of post-classical Latin paganus in the sense "non-Christian, heathen" is unclear. The dating of this sense is controversial, but the fourth century seems most plausible. An earlier example has been suggested in Tertullian De Corona Militis xi, "Apud hunc [sc.

Christum] tam miles est paganus fidelis quam paganus est miles infidelis," but here the word paganus may be interpreted in the sense "civilian" rather than "heathen." [6] The Oxford English Dictionary, seen by many as the definitive source of lexical knowledge, proposes three explanations for the evolution of the term: (i) The older sense of classical Latin pāgānus is "of the country, rustic" (also as noun). It has been argued that the transferred use reflects the fact that the ancient idolatry lingered on in the rural villages and hamlets after Christianity had been generally accepted in the towns and cities of the Roman Empire ; cf. Orosius Histories 1. Prol.

"Ex locorum agrestium compitis et pagis pagani vocantur." From its earliest beginnings, Christianity spread much more quickly in major urban areas (like Antioch, Alexandria, Corinth, Rome) than in the countryside (in fact, the early church was almost entirely urban), and soon the word for "country dweller" became synonymous with someone who was "not a Christian," giving rise to the modern meaning of "Pagan." This may, in part, have had to do with the conservative nature of rural people, who may have been more resistant to the new ideas of Christianity than those who lived in major urban centers. However, it may have also resulted from early Christian missionaries focusing their efforts within major population centers (e.g., St. Paul ), rather than throughout an expansive, yet sparsely populated, countryside (hence, the Latin term suggesting "uneducated country folk"). (ii) The more common meaning of classical Latin pāgānus is "civilian, non-militant" (adjective and noun).

Christians called themselves mīlitēs, "enrolled soldiers" of Christ , members of his militant church , and applied to non-Christians the term applied by soldiers to all who were "not enrolled in the army." (iii) The sense "heathen" arose from an interpretation of paganus as denoting a person who was outside a particular group or community , hence "not of the city" or "rural"; cf. Orosius Histories 1. Prol. "ui alieni a civitate dei..pagani vocantur." See C. Mohrmann, Vigiliae Christianae 6 (1952) 9ff. [7] In their distant origins, these usages derived from pagus, "province, countryside," cognate to Greek πάγος "rocky hill," and, even earlier, "something stuck in the ground," as a landmark: the Proto-Indo-European root *pag- means "fixed" and is also the source of the words page, pale (stake), and pole, as well as pact and peace.

While pagan is attested in English from the fourteenth century, there is no evidence that the term paganism was in use in English before the seventeenth century. Specifically, the Oxford English Dictionary cites Edward Gibbon 's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776) as its first recorded usage: "The divisions of Christianity suspended the ruin of paganism." The term was not a neologism, however, as paganismus was already used by Augustine . [8] Heathen Heathen is from Old English hæðen "not Christian or Jewish," (c.f. Old Norse heiðinn). Historically, the term was probably influenced by Gothic haiþi "dwelling on the heath," appearing as haiþno in Ulfilas 's Gothic language Bible (fourth century) as "gentile woman," (translating the "Hellene" in Mark 7:26). It may have been chosen on the model of the Latin paganus or for resemblance to the Greek ethne, or may in fact be a borrowing of that word, perhaps via Armenian hethanos.

Like other words for exclusively Christian ideas (e.g., "church") it would have come first into Gothic, then spread to other Germanic languages. [9] "Paganism" and Repression Both "pagan" and "heathen" (and their analogues "gentile" (Hebrew: goyim] and "infidel" (Arabic: kafir)) have historically been used as pejorative terms by adherents of monotheistic religions (namely, Judaism , Christianity and Islam ) to describe unbelievers. [10] A peculiar subset of this usage uses "paganism" to describe the lack of (an accepted monotheistic) religion, becoming somewhat analogous to atheism . Though the Islamic and Jewish terms have led to their share of repression, the Christian church has, throughout history, been the most vocally and violently repressive of these "primitive" forms of religious expression. See the articles on kafir, infidel , gentile , and goyim.

Though Christianity and Greco-Roman religion initially existed in relative harmony (with some Christian apologists, such as Justin Martyr , actually arguing for the compatibility of both visions), [11] this period of peaceful coexistence was relatively short-lived. Once the Christian religion became normalized in the Roman Empire (a process that began with Constantine I and reached its apex under Theodosius I ), [12] adherents of indigenous faith traditions came to be extensively and repressively persecuted. These traditions, labeled "pagan superstitions" by the religious authorities, [13] were explicitly identified and prohibited in fourth century legal codes: After the defeat of Magnentius in A.D. 353, Constantius' policy toward paganism is expressed more forcefully in the Codex [Theodosianus], reflecting his own growing power as well as that of the Christian Church in the Latin west. In laws dated 356-360, Constantius explicitly prohibited sacrifice and the veneration of pagan images, closed the temples, and prohibited all divination and magic.

Taken as a group, Constantius' attack upon pagan sacrifice, divination and magic were in essence an attack upon superstitio, in the Christian and pagan definitions of the term. … It was largely due to the laws outlawing pagan rites and the efforts of Christian polemicists like Firmicus Maternus that pagans, with ever increasing frequency, found themselves labelled by the term superstitio and were forced, more or less, to identify their common concerns. [14] This pointed suppression of "erroneous" religious belief led to innumerable iniquities, as the Church "close down the traditional, 'Pagan' philosophical schools, persecuted those involved in the various popular Greco-Roman Mystery Religions, burned hundreds of thousands of books, and hurled the charge of heresy&mdashwith its penalty of excommunication—at any who threatened to question the orthodox party line. Many were put to death." [15] Unfortunately, these same divisive tendencies can be seen in the historical interactions between Christians and various other religious groups (including Hindus, [16] [17] Chinese religious devotees, [18] and adherents of the world's indigenous traditions).

In an intriguing theological counterpoint, Christianity itself has been perceived at times as a form of paganism by followers of the other Abrahamic religions [19] due to such uniquely Christian elements as doctrine of the Trinity, the maintenance of pagan feast days (such as Christmas and Easter ), and the incorporation of icons into religions practice. This last element, the veneration of saints and icons, has led to similar charges within Christianity, with many groups accusing the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches of paganism for their iconodolatry and "polytheism." [20] Paganism as a Trope in the Modern West With the dawn of the Romantic period in the modern west, paganism (especially in the Greco-Roman context) came to be seen as a form of aesthetic ideal. For adherents to this viewpoint, it came to be equated with a Christianized sense of " epicureanism ," signifying a person who is sensual, materialistic, self-indulgent, unconcerned with the future and uninterested in sophisticated religion.

At the same time, some intellectuals also came to acknowledge the moral profundities of these pre-Christian belief systems, which led to the notion of the "noble savage"—an individual who exhibits the height of human morality without the deleterious influences of modern society and Christian dogma. [21] Commenting on this theme, Swinburne uses this updated understanding of paganism to critique the "life-denying" elements of Christianity: "Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from thy breath; We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fullness of death." [22] Despite this mitigating influence, the term was still typically used in its derogatory sense, particularly among those who were drawing attention to what they saw as the limitations of paganism. For example, G. K. Chesterton writes: "The pagan set out, with admirable sense, to enjoy himself.

By the end of his civilization he had discovered that a man cannot enjoy himself and continue to enjoy anything else." [23] Pagan revivals and new religious movements Neo-paganism A ceremony at the annual Prometheia festival of the Greek polytheistic group Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes, June 2006. The broad category termed neopaganism includes a broad subset of modern traditions, including reconstructed iterations of Hellenic, Celtic and Germanic religion, as well as modern eclectic traditions such as Discordianism, and Wicca and its many offshoots. Many of these "revivals," Wicca and Neo-Druidism in particular, draw equal inspiration from pre-modern sources and nineteenth century Romanticism , which results in the retention of notable elements of early modern occultism and theosophy. This metaphysical (even pseudo-scientific) tenor sets them apart from historical rural (paganus) folk religion. The Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið (a folk religion based on Norse mythology ) is a notable exception in that it was derived more or less directly from remnants in rural folklore.

[24] [25] ; Adler, 3-4. </ref> Neopaganism in the United States accounts for roughly a third of all neopagans worldwide and represents some 0.2 percent of U.S. population, figuring as the sixth largest non-Christian denomination in the U.S., after Judaism (1.4 percent), Islam (0.6 percent), Buddhism (0.5 percent), Hinduism (0.3 percent) and Unitarian Universalism (0.3 percent). [26] Demographics Historically, paganism has been defined broadly enough to encompass most faiths outside the Abrahamic triad ( Judaism , Christianity, and Islam ). If Indian religions are included into this grouping (as they often were), then approximately 40 percent of the world's religious adherents could be considered pagan, according to the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. [27] . The term has also been used more narrowly, [28] See also: [29] ; [30] to refer only to religions outside the very large group of so-called Axial Age faiths, a heading that encompasses Abrahamic, Indian and Chinese religions.

Under this narrower definition, which differs from that historically used by many [31] (though by no means all) [32] Christians and other Westerners, contemporary paganism is a relatively smaller and more marginal numerical phenomenon. In spite of this caveat, American Neopaganism is a growing institution, one which currently accounts for some 0.2 percent of U.S. population (as mentioned above). [33] Notes ↑ The Online Etymology Dictionary . ↑ See, for example, Martindale (1911), who states that "paganism, in the broadest sense includes all religions other than the true one revealed by God [which, in his view, was Roman Catholicism ], and, in a narrower sense, all except Christianity, Judaism, and Mohammedanism. ↑ For instance, Celenza notes certain ideological similarities between the two traditions: "'Polytheism' and 'monotheism' however, do not (except in theory) exist in a cozy binary opposition, and newer scholarship argues that most educated persons in late antiquity believed in the existence of one supreme being of some sort" (68). ↑ Adrian Fortescue.

Transcribed by Janet Grayson, "Theodosius I" in The Catholic Encyclopedia (1912). ↑ Michele R. Salzman. "'Superstitio' in the Codex Theodosianus and the Persecution of Pagans." Vigiliae Christianae 41(2) (June 1987): 175. ↑ Ibid., 181. ↑ Tom Harpur. The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light. (Toronto: Thomas Allen, 2004), 12. See also: Rodney MacMullen and Eugene N. Lane. Paganism and Christianity 100-425 C.E. : A Sourcebook. (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Press, 1992), 278, 283-288. ↑ David N. Lorenzen, "Who Invented Hinduism?" Comparative Studies in Society and History 41(4) (October 1999): 630-659, which discusses the early Christian depictions of the Hindu tradition (639-646).

↑ See also Satyasaran Sinha, "Will India Become Christian?" The American Journal of Theology 18(2) (April 1914): 281-289 who summarizes the thoughts of many early twentieth-century Europeans as follows: "it is frequently assumed by speakers and writers of the present day that the Hindus are 'idolatrous,' that the Hindu religion teaches 'pantheism,' that the Hindus are 'heathen,' that'"India will become a Christian country'" (282). ↑ See Chinese Rites Controversy . See also Robert F. McClellan, "Missionary Influence on American Attitudes toward China at the Turn of This Century," Church History 38:4 (December 1969), 475-485, who notes that "in their description of Chinese life missionaries often emphasized the superstitious beliefs, strange customs, abnormal vices and immorality of the Chinese people. The missionary whether he realized it or not was effectively developing an image of the Chinese as a pagan barbaric people" (476-477).

↑ See the Jewish Encyclopedia 's "Christianity in its Relation to Judaism." Retrieved September 23, 2007. For a Muslim perspective, see Lazarus-Yafeh's incisive portrayal of the medieval Muslim response to Christianity: "They rejected all out of a deep commitment to the idea of a totally transcendent. one-and-only God, as they understood it. Some may have felt there to be a basic dichotomy: while Christianity based itself on a clergy, monasticism, liturgy, music. icons, festivals and processions. symbols. and emotions. Islam was rational and equalitarian (with no clergy and everyone being equal before God). It was also puritan or spartan, avoiding festivals, music, icons, liturgy. and even visual symbols, dedicating itself to the endless pursuit of tawhid-the unity and transcendence of God" (68). ↑ See Iconoclasm ; Seznec (1996); Philip Melanchthon's 'Apologia Confessionis Augustanae' (accessible via Project Gutenberg (which details "pagan" survivals within Catholic practice); and the execrable Jack Chick for his vehement screed against Catholicism .

↑ This development of this archetype is discussed in great detail in Ter Ellingson's The Myth of the Noble Savage. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001). ↑ Algernon C. Swinburne, 'Hymn to Proserpine' . Retrieved September 23, 2007. ↑ Gilbert Keith Chesterton. "Paganism and Mr Lowes Dickinson." The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton. (edited by David Dooley),(Ignatius Press, 1986), 127 ↑ James R. Lewis. The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 13; ↑ Wouter J. Hanegraaff. New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 1996), 84 ↑ The American Religious Identification Survey 2001 figures, as reported in US Census data. Retrieved Septemeber 22, 2007. ↑ Demographic data accessible on adherents.com .

Retrived September 23, 2007. ↑ B. A. Robinson, "What do 'Paganism' & 'Pagan' mean?" at religioustolerance.org . Ontario Consultants on Religioius Tolerance. 2000. Retrieved September 23, 2007. ↑ S. N. Eisenstadt. "Transcendental Visions—Other-Worldliness—and Its Transformations: Some More Comments on L. Dumont." Religion 13(4) (1983): 3 ↑ Michael York. "Paganism as Root-Religion." The Pomegranate 6(1) (2004): 11-18. York divides the main streams of developed religion into four categories: gnostic, dharmic, Abrahamic and pagan. ↑ See, for example, Martindale's 1911 article on "Paganism" in the Catholic Encyclopaedia or a modern Catholic article with a similarly derogatory tone. Both retrieved September 23, 2007.

↑ See Scott (1985) and Beinorius (2005). ↑ The American Religious Identification Survey 2001 figures, as reported in US Census data. Retrieved Septemeber 22, 2007. References Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess Worshippers and Other Pagans in America. New York: Penguin Books, 2006. ISBN 0143038192 Beinorius, Audrius. "Buddhism in the Early European Imagination: A Historical Perspective." Acta Orientalia Vilnensia 6(2) (2005): 7–22. Celenza, Christopher S. "Lorenzo Valla, 'Paganism,' and Orthodoxy." MLN 119(1) (January 2004): 66-87. Italian Issue Supplement: Studia Humanitatis: Essays in Honor of Salvatore Camporeale. Crowley, Vivianne. Principles of Paganism. Thorsons Publishers, 1996.

ISBN 1855385074 No-nonsense guide to the basics of Pagansim. Eisenstadt, S. N. "Transcendental Visions—Other-Worldliness—and Its Transformations: Some More Comments on L. Dumont." Religion 13(4) (1983): 1-17. Ellingson, Ter. The Myth of the Noble Savage. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. ISBN 0520226100 . Hanegraaff, Wouter J. New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 1996. ISBN 9004106960 . Harpur, Tom. The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light. Toronto: Thomas Allen, 2004. ISBN 0887621457 . Lazarus-Yafeh, Hava.

"Some Neglected Aspects of Medieval Muslim Polemics against Christianity." The Harvard Theological Review 89(1) (January 1996): 61-84. Lewis, James R. The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0195149866 . MacMullen, Rodney and Eugene N. Lane. Paganism and Christianity 100-425 C.E. : A Sourcebook. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Press, 1992. ISBN 0800626478 Martindale, J. J. "Paganism" in the Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Co., 1911. Salzman, Michele R. "'Superstitio' in the Codex Theodosianus and the Persecution of Pagans." Vigiliae Christianae 41(2) (June 1987): 172-188. Scott, David.

"Christian Responses to Buddhism in Pre-Medieval Times." Numen 32(1) (July 1985): 88-100. Seznec, Jean. The Survival of the Pagan Gods: The Mythological Tradition and Its Place in Renaissance Humanism and Art. Translated by Barbara F. Sessions. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995. ISBN 0691029881 York, Michael. Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion. New York: New York University Press, 2003. ISBN 0814797083 York, Michael. "Paganism as Root-Religion." The Pomegranate 6(1) (2004): 11-18. External links pagan - Memidex dictionary/thesaurus pagan (nonreligious person) a person who doesn't acknowledge your god Synonyms: gentile, heathen, infidel, giaour [disparagement, Islam].

Type of: nonreligious person (religious person) a person who follows a polytheistic or pre-Christian religion (not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew) Type of: religious person (sensualist) someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures Synonyms: hedonist, pleasure seeker. Type of: sensualist adjective (irreligious) not acknowledging the God of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam Synonyms: ethnic, heathen, heathenish. Similar to: irreligious Etymology summary Late Latin paganus "pagan", in classical Latin "villager, rustic, civilian",... (Source: Online Etymology) [more] Wikipedia: Paganism a broad term typically pertaining to indigenous and historical polytheistic and non-theistic religious traditions - primarily those of cultures known to the classical world. In a wider sense, it has been used as a label for any non-Abrahamic... en​.wikipedia​.org​/wiki​/Paganism Pagan (disambiguation) may refer to Paganism, see also: animism | polytheism | shamanism | Contemporary Paganism.

| Pagan may also refer to: Bagan, a city in Myanmar also known as Pagan Pagan Kingdom, 849-1287, Burmese Empire | Battle of Pagan in 1287, Mongol defeat of Pagan... (39 of 174 words, 21 definitions) | pagandom [noun, derived] a member of a group professing a polytheistic religion or any religion other than Christianity, Judaism, or Islam | a person without any religion; ... (23 of 438 words, 4 definitions, 9 usage examples, pronunciation) [similar, sense-specific] | ... "heathen" [sense-specific] ; especially, a follower of a polytheistic religion (as in ancient Rome) | one who has little or no religion and who ... (23 of 141 words, 3 definitions, 1 usage example, pronunciations) | paganize [derived] a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions | [outdated, insulting] : a non-Christian. | a member of a modern ...

(23 of 132 words, 4 definitions, 2 usage examples, pronunciation) | paganism [noun, related] a person who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew; heathen: formerly, sometimes applied specifically to a non-Christian by Christians | a person who has ... (24 of 104 words, 5 definitions, pronunciation) | paganism [noun, related] An adherent of a polytheistic religion in antiquity, especially when viewed in contrast to an adherent of a monotheistic religion. | A Neopagan. | ... (22 of 73 words, 5 definitions, pronunciations) Random House Dictionary: pagan one of a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks. | a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. | ... (26 of 69 words, 6 definitions, pronunciation) [synonym, sense-specific] | ... Relating to, characteristic of or adhering to non-Abrahamist religions, especially earlier polytheism. | Savage, immoral, uncivilized, wild.

| A person not adhering to any major or recognized religion, especially a heathen or non-Abrahamist, follower... (32 of 65 words, 5 definitions, 2 usage examples, pronunciation) | pagans [plural] someone who believes in a religion that is not one of the main modern religions. This word was used especially in the past by Christians to criticize ... (27 of 61 words, pronunciation) www​.macmillandictionary​.com​/dictionary​/british​/pagan 6 pagan relating to an ancient religion that had many gods and praised nature | believing in a religion that is not one of the main modern religions (25 of 55 words, 2 definitions, 1 usage example, pronunciation) Origin of the word “pagan” | A Witchy Life Origin of the word “pagan” Posted on March 15, 2011 | 3 Comments This word defines the spirituality and beliefs of so many people, myself included. But do we understand what this word means? I think too many people do not understand or truly even care about the origins of the words that define them, whether they want to admit to labels or not.

In some way we all are “labeled” because we all try to define ourselves in words, even if it is just in our own minds. The word “pagan” comes from Latin. As a noun: “paganus, pagani”= pagan; countryman, peasant; civilian (non-soldier); civilians/locals (pl.) As an adjective: “paganus, pagana, paganum”= pagan; of a pagus (country district); rural/rustic; civilian (not military) In origin, this word had no reference at all to religion or spirituality. It was used by city-dwellers (Romans) to refer to those people from the country, and often in a slightly derogatory way. In ancient Rome, if you were pagan, you were a country person, a rustic. Much later, after the fledgling religion of Christianity began to appear in the Roman Empire, the word “pagan” still referred to country dwellers, but also took on an added meaning. In many cases, the emerging Christian faith was referred to as pagan, largely because it rose in the countryside. It was also called pagan because it differed so greatly from the Roman religion and was not polytheistic.

There is little actual surviving documentation of this use, but the usage of “pagan” to refer to strange, backward, or “uncivilized” beliefs has survived in documents dating as early as the 1460s. In the 1400s we find that the word “pagan” no longer means a country person, but rather has taken on a wholly religious meaning. However, it does not refer to Christians, but rather it refers to a non-Christian, aka “heathen.” Although the Oxford English Dictionary cites that the word refers to people who are not of any established or major religion, in the examples cited the religion is supposed to be Christianity. Also, in the late 1400s that portion of history is still in the end stages of the Middle Ages, and for a long time beyond the Dark Times even the other monotheistic religions (Judaism and Islam) were often considered to be “infidels” and pagan religions by fanatics and Crusaders. I think the case can be made, therefore that between the times of roughly 1000 to about 1700, the word “pagan” referred to any non-Christian, and not just any unrecognized religion.

Of course, this is open to interpretation. The interpretation that “pagan” also referred to someone of backward beliefs has persisted to as late as the 1980s, according to OED citations and examples. It wasn’t until roughly 1927 that “pagan” took on the connotations it holds today. Today we tend to use “pagan” to mean: “a follower of a pantheistic or nature-worshiping religion; a neopagan” (OED). Another way some people define the word today is as a belief system that is not a part of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam and worships nature. For some groups, the world still holds many negative connotations that are not valid, such as devil worshiper or witch (here with the idea of green-skinned witches casting curses and spells over their foul bubbling cauldrons–thanks Hollywood).

pagan - definition of pagan in English | Oxford Dictionaries Definition of pagan in English: pagan noun 1A person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions: ‘a Muslim majority had to live in close proximity to large communities of Christians and pagans’ More example sentences ‘We have a good deal of information about the polemical and often bitter arguments Christians, Jews, and pagans had with one another in the early centuries.’ ‘There was a strong opposition against the commemorating of the birthday by the early Christian scholars like Origin, on the ground that it is originally a custom of pagans and idolaters.’ ‘Knocking on wood is meant to bring good luck by enlisting the support of spirits who according to the ancient pagans Druids, lived in trees.’ ‘She feels fulfilled by her mixture of pagan and Christian beliefs and sees no need for spells.’ ‘I have noted that biblical religion opposed the supernaturalism of the ancient pagan.’ ‘While social factors may explain why increasing numbers of aristocrats adopted Christianity, they surely do not explain all conversions of pagans in the fourth century.’ ‘My happiness, strengths, passive aggressive tendencies and insecurities are likely to be the same regardless of whether or not I currently identify as a pagan, atheist

 or Gnostic.’ ‘All of us - pagans, Christians, Muslims, Jews - must stand together when it comes to protecting our most sacred freedom.’ ‘For the pagan and the Temple mystic, however, the world is not God's place; instead, God is the place of the world.’ ‘Whether the spouses are Hindus or Muslims, Christians or Parsis, pagans or heathens, is wholly irrelevant in the application of these provisions.’ ‘The author suggests that those who were not Jews, Christians, or Muslims, were all pagans.’ ‘The pagan insisted that divinity was in trees and in all of nature.’ ‘But for pagans, magicians were the consultants of their day.’ ‘Casebolt offered 20 labels, including pagan, atheist and agnostic in his Midwestern survey.’ ‘Today, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and pagans from all races and sects do live side-by-side in varying degrees of conflict and co-operation.’ ‘I lean more toward the type of magic commonly associated with Wiccans and pagans, I don't have any particular religion just yet, but I found what works best for me.’ ‘It is a common belief that witches and pagans are

 devil worshipers, but they are not.’ ‘In fact Aurelian was a pagan who set up a religion dedicated to Sol the sun god.’ Synonyms heathen, infidel, idolater, idolatress, atheist, non-theist, irreligious person, agnostic, sceptic, heretic, apostate paynim 1.1dated, derogatory A non-Christian.

Example sentences ‘Missionary zeal tends to offend the religious sensibilities of people by denouncing their native religions as false and pagan.’ 1.2 A member of a modern religious movement which seeks to incorporate beliefs or practices from outside the main world religions, especially nature worship.

Example sentences ‘Archaeologist Robert J Wallis and anthropologist Jenny Blain have been talking to modern British pagans about their beliefs and their interests in archaeological sites.’ ‘As an adult, I learned that there were modern Pagans.’ ‘Wiccans consider themselves witches, pagans or neo-pagans, and say their religion is based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons.’ ‘Although many modern pagans do not consider themselves to be witches both spiritual outlooks remain largely concerned with a naturalistic approach to spirituality.’ ‘Interacting with our fellow Pagans, we meet proud practitioners of every alternative lifestyle imaginable.’ ‘As modern Pagans this is part of our situation, for we are not sheep.’ ‘According to one major study, Wiccans - one of several subgroups of pagans - made up the fastest-growing religion in the continental United States in the 1990s.’ ‘What can we learn from this and apply to our lives as modern Pagans?’ adjective Relating to pagans or their beliefs: ‘a pagan god’ More example sentences ‘Persecution and absorption into popular Christianity served to cut short many pagan religious practices.’ ‘The author's treatment of the plagues is enlightened by his knowledge

 of ancient Egypt; he draws out their symbolic significance as a direct challenge to the pagan beliefs and gods of Egypt.’ ‘Most ancient pagan beliefs place more emphasis upon the non-uniformities of Nature than the regularities.’ ‘Tobernalt is an ancient, pagan assembly place, approximately three miles east of Sligo town, near the shores of Lough Gill.’ ‘The date had long been held sacred as Imbolg, the Celtic festival of Spring, but after Christianity arrived, Saint Brigid was honoured instead of the pagan gods.’ ‘Yet, it was at the hill of Tara that St.

Patrick lit the first Paschal fire in 433, which local high king Laoighire regarded as defiance against his pagan gods.’ ‘David Miles recalls finding Christian jewels in a cemetery of West Saxons newly converted from pagan beliefs.’ ‘Some tattoos are of course more obvious in their meaning, but a good number of others draw on mythology, pagan runes, organizational logos and acronyms.’ ‘After all, there were Anglo-Saxon pagan gods to sing about as well.’ ‘I was just researching Lady Godiva to see if I can find out whether there are any pagan religious roots to the story, because I feel like there must surely be.’ ‘They sent up a fragrance of sweet oil and illuminated the soft wall-paintings of pagan heroes and gods.’ ‘Within the Christian celebration, however, may be traced the faint outline of the older and perhaps darker pagan festival which it replaced.’ ‘It seems to me that regardless of whether you are an agnostic or an atheist, mainstream or pagan, religious or not there is still a dignity in death that we can all learn from.’ ‘As with many of our religious holidays, the traditions are a mixture of pagan, Jewish, Christian and other beliefs.’ ‘Before Ukraine adopted Christianity in 988,

 the inhabitants believed in pagan gods who ruled over the sun, stars, and moon.’ ‘To the south, in England, heathenism still reigned in the various kingdoms ruled by the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, and pagan gods were worshipped.’ ‘Excavation of the graves revealed an astonishing world of pagan beliefs.’ ‘Following a preliminary inspection of the site, Mr Downe said he believed the ruins were part of a prehistoric roundabout that may have also been used for pagan ceremonies.’ ‘I had a romantic notion that the roots of the Irish jig lay in far distant celtic, pagan roots, but it may be that it was just an import from 17th Century Continental Europe.’ ‘Bealtaine, apart from being the Irish word for the month of May, was a festival in pagan Ireland celebrating Spring and heralding the arrival of Summer.’ Synonyms ungodly, irreligious, infidel, idolatrous, atheistic, non-theistic, agnostic, sceptical, faithless, impious paganistic, paganish, apostatical, nullifidian, heathenish, heathenistic Online Etymology Dictionary pagan (n.) late 14c., from Late Latin pag

anus "pagan," in classical Latin "villager, rustic; civilian, non-combatant" noun use of adjective meaning "of the country, of a village," from pagus "country people; province, rural district," originally "district limited by markers," thus related to pangere "to fix, fasten," from PIE root *pag- "to fix" (see pact ).

As an adjective from early 15c. Religious sense is often said to derive from conservative rural adherence to the old gods after the Christianization of Roman towns and cities; but the word in this sense predates that period in Church history, and it is more likely derived from the use of paganus in Roman military jargon for "civilian, incompetent soldier," which Christians (Tertullian, c.202; Augustine) picked up with the military imagery of the early Church (such as milites "soldier of Christ," etc.). Applied to modern pantheists and nature-worshippers from 1908. Pagan and heathen are primarily the same in meaning; but pagan is sometimes distinctively applied to those nations that, although worshiping false gods, are more cultivated, as the Greeks and Romans, and heathen to uncivilized idolaters, as the tribes of Africa. A Mohammedan is not counted a pagan much less a heathen.

[Century Dictionary, 1902] The English surname Paine, Payne, etc., appears by old records to be from Latin paganus, but whether in the sense "villager," "rustic," or "heathen" is disputed. It also was a common Christian name in 13c., "and was, no doubt, given without any thought of its meaning" ["Dictionary of English Surnames"]. Paganism | Religion-wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Etymology Pagan The term pagan is from the Latin paganus, an adjective originally meaning "rural", "rustic" or "of the country. As a noun, paganus was used to mean "country dweller, villager." [5] The semantic development of post-classical Latin paganus in the sense "non-Christian, heathen" is unclear. The dating of this sense is controversial, but the 4th century seems most plausible. An earlier example has been suggested in Tertullian De Corona Militis xi, "Apud hunc [sc.

Christum] tam miles est paganus fidelis quam paganus est miles infidelis," but here the word paganus may be interpreted in the sense "civilian" rather than "heathen". There are three main explanations of the development: (i) The older sense of classical Latin pāgānus is "of the country, rustic" (also as noun). It has been argued that the transferred use reflects the fact that the ancient idolatry lingered on in the rural villages and hamlets after Christianity had been accepted in the towns and cities of the Roman Empire; cf. Orosius Histories 1. Prol.

"Ex locorum agrestium compitis et pagis pagani vocantur." From its earliest beginnings, Christianity spread much more quickly in major urban areas (like Antioch , Alexandria , Corinth , Rome ) than in the countryside (in fact, the early church was almost entirely urban, and soon the word for "country dweller" became synonymous with someone who was "not a Christian ," giving rise to the modern meaning of "Pagan." This may, in part, have had to do with the closeness to nature of rural people, who may have been more resistant to the new ideas of Christianity than those who lived in major urban centers and were cut off from the cycles of nature and the forms of spirituality associated with them. However, it may have also resulted from early Christian missionaries focusing their efforts within major population centers (e.g., St. Paul ), rather than throughout an expansive, yet sparsely populated, countryside (hence, the Latin term suggesting "uneducated country folk") until a bit later on. (ii) The more common meaning of classical Latin pāgānus is "civilian, non-militant" (adjective and noun).

Christians called themselves mīlitēs, "enrolled soldiers" of Christ , members of his militant church, and applied to non-Christians the term applied by soldiers to all who were "not enrolled in the army". (iii) The sense "heathen" arose from an interpretation of paganus as denoting a person who was outside a particular group or community, hence "not of the city" or "rural"; cf. Orosius Histories 1. Prol."ui alieni a civitate dei..pagani vocantur." See C. Mohrmann, Vigiliae Christianae 6 (1952) 9ff. The post-classical Latin paganismus gave rise to both paganism and to its synonym paynimry. [6] Paynimry may be used of paganism, its practises, and pagans, [7] as well as for the domain or realm of pagans. [8] "Peasant" is a cognate, via Old French paisent.

[9] In their distant origins, these usages derived from pagus, "province, countryside", cognate to Greek πάγος "rocky hill", and, even earlier, "something stuck in the ground", as a landmark: the Proto-Indo-European root *pag- means "fixed" and is also the source of the words page, pale (stake), and pole, as well as pact and peace. While pagan is attested in English from the 14th century, there is no evidence that the term paganism was in use in English before the 17th century. The Oxford English Dictionary instances Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776): "The divisions of Christianity suspended the ruin of paganism." The term was not a neologism, however, as paganismus was already used by Augustine . [10] Less than twenty years after the last vestiges of paganism were crushed with great severity by the emperor Theodosius I [11] Rome was seized by Alaric in 410.

This led to murmuring that the gods of paganism had taken greater care of the city than that of the Christian God, inspiring St Augustine to write The City of God, alternative title "De Civitate Dei contra Paganos: The City of God against the Pagans", in which he claimed that whilst the great 'city of Man' had fallen, Christians were ultimately citizens of the 'city of God.' [12] Heathen Heathen is from Old English hæðen "not Christian or Jewish ", (c.f. Old Norse heiðinn). Historically, the term was probably influenced by Gothic haiþi "dwelling on the heath", appearing as haiþno in Ulfilas' Bible as " gentile woman," (translating the "Hellene" in Mark 7:26). This translation was probably influenced by Latin paganus, "country dweller", or it was chosen because of its similarity to the Greek ethne, "gentile". It has even been suggested that Gothic haiþi is not related to "heath" at all, but rather a loan from Armenian hethanos, itself loaned from Greek ethnos.

Terminology Further information: Idolatry , Polytheism , and Ethnic religion Both "pagan" and " heathen " have historically been used as a pejorative by adherents of monotheistic religions (such as Judaism , Christianity and Islam ) to indicate a disbeliever in their religion, although in modern times it is not always used as a pejorative. "Paganism" frequently refers to the religions of classical antiquity, most notably Greek mythology or Roman religion, and can be used neutrally or admiringly by those who refer to those complexes of belief. However, until the rise of Romanticism and the general acceptance of freedom of religion in Western civilization , "Paganism" was almost always used disparagingly of heterodox beliefs falling outside the established political framework of the Christian Church. "Pagan" came to be equated with a Christianized sense of "epicurian" to signify a person who is sensual, materialistic, self-indulgent, unconcerned with the future and uninterested in sophisticated religion. The word was usually used in this worldly and stereotypical sense, particularly among those who were drawing attention to what they perceived as being the limitations of paganism, for example, as when G.

K. Chesterton wrote: "The pagan set out, with admirable sense, to enjoy himself. By the end of his civilization he had discovered that a man cannot enjoy himself and continue to enjoy anything else." In sharp contrast Swinburne the poet would comment on this same theme: "Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from thy breath; We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fullness of death." [13] Christianity itself has been perceived at times as a form of polytheism by followers of the other Abrahamic religions [14] [15] because of, for example, the Christian doctrine of the Trinity , the celebration of pagan feast days, [16] and other practices [17] – through a process described as "baptising" [18] or " christianization ". Even between Christians there have been similar charges of idolatry levelled, especially by Protestants , [19] [20] towards the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches for their veneration of the saints and images.

Historical polytheism Further information: Prehistoric religion and Polytheism Bronze Age to Early Iron Age Estonian paganism Pagan survivals in folklore In addition, folklore that is not any longer perceived as holding any religious significance can in some instances be traced to pre-Christian or pre-Islamic origins. In Europe, this is particularly the case with the various customs of Carnival or Fasnacht and the Yule traditions surrounding Santa Claus/ Sinterklaas . By contrast, the Christmas tree in spite of frequent association with Thor 's Oak cannot be shown to be an innovation predating the Early Modern period. Early Modern period Interest in pagan traditions was revived in the Renaissance, at first in Renaissance magic as a revival of Greco-Roman magic. In the 17th century, description of paganism turned from the theological aspect to the ethnological, and a religion began to be understood as part of the ethnic identity of a people, and the study of the religions of "primitive" peoples triggered questions as to the ultimate historical origin of religion. Thus, Nicolas Fabri de Peiresc saw the pagan religions of Africa of his day as relics that were in principle capable of shedding light on the historical paganism of Classical Antiquity.

[21] Romanticism Paganism re-surfaces as a topic of fascination in 18th to 19th century Romanticism, in particular in the context of the literary Celtic and Viking revivals, which portrayed historical Celtic and Germanic polytheists as noble savages. The 19th century also saw much scholarly interest in the reconstruction of pagan mythology from folklore or fairy tales. This was notably attempted by the Brothers Grimm, especially Jacob Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology, and Elias Lönnrot with the compilation of the Kalevala. The work of the Brothers Grimm influenced other collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly believe that the fairy tales of a country were particularly representative of it, to the neglect of cross-cultural influence. Among those influenced were the Russian Alexander Afanasyev, the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, and the Englishman Joseph Jacobs.

[22] Romanticist interest in non-classical antiquity coincided with the rise of Romantic nationalism and the rise of the nation state in the context of the 1848 revolutions, leading to the creation of national epics and national myths for the various newly-formed states. Pagan or folkloristic topics were also common in the musical nationalism of the period. Neopaganism File:YSEE ritual.jpg Neopaganism includes reconstructed religions such as Hellenic polytheism , Celtic or Germanic reconstructionism as well as modern eclectic traditions such as Discordianism , or Wicca and its many offshoots. Many of the "revivals", Wicca and Neo-druidism in particular, have their roots in 19th century Romanticism and retain noticeable elements of occultism or theosophy that were current then, setting them apart from historical rural (paganus) folk religion.

Neopaganism in the United States accounts for roughly a third of all neopagans worldwide, and for some 0.2% of US population, figuring as the sixth largest non-Christian denomination in the US, after Judaism (1.4%), Islam (0.6%), Buddhism (0.5%), Hinduism (0.3%) and Unitarian Universalism (0.3%). [23] In Iceland, the members of Ásatrúarfélagið account for 0.4% of the total population [24] , which is just over a thousand people. There are a number of Neopagan authors who have examined the relation of the 20th-century movements of polytheistic revival with historical polytheism on one hand and contemporary traditions of indigenous folk religion on the other. Isaac Bonewits introduces a terminology to make this distinction, [25] Paleopaganism: A retronym coined to contrast with "Neopaganism", "original polytheistic, nature-centered faiths", such as the pre-Hellenistic Greek and pre-imperial Roman religion, pre-Migration period Germanic paganism as described by Tacitus, or Celtic polytheism as described by Julius Caesar .

Among extant "major religions", Bonewits would count as Paleopagan Hinduism as it stood prior to the Islamic invasions of India , Shintoism and Taoism . Mesopaganism: A group, which is, or has been, significantly influenced by monotheistic , dualistic, or nontheistic worldviews, but has been able to maintain an independence of religious practices. This group includes aboriginal Americans as well as Australian aboriginals , Viking Age Norse paganism and New Age spirituality. Influences include: Freemasonry [26] , Rosicrucianism , Theosophy, Spiritualism, and the many Afro-Diasporic faiths like Haitian Vodou , Santería and Espiritu religion. Isaac Bonewits includes British Traditional Wicca in this subdivision. Neopaganism: A movement by modern people to revive nature-worshipping, pre-Christian religions, or other nature-based spiritual paths. This definition may include anything on a sliding scale from Reconstructionism at one end to non-reconstructionist groups such as Neo-druidism and Wicca at the other.

Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick in their A History of Pagan Europe (1995) classify "pagan religions" as characterized by the following traits: polytheism : pagan religions recognise a plurality of divine beings, which may or may not be considered aspects of an underlying unity (the soft and hard polytheism distinction) "nature-based": pagan religions have a concept of the divinity of Nature, which they view as a manifestation of the divine, not as the "fallen" creation found in Dualistic cosmology. "sacred feminine": pagan religions recognize "the female divine principle", identified as "the Goddess" (as opposed to individual goddesses besides or in place of the male divine principle as expressed in the Abrahamic God . [27] Demographics Paganism has been previously defined broadly, to encompass many or most of the faith traditions outside the Abrahamic monotheistic group of Judaism , Christianity , and Islam . The term has also been used more narrowly, [28] [29] [30] however, to refer only to religions outside the very large group of so-called Axial Age faiths that encompass both the Abrahamic religions and the chief Indian religions .

Under this narrower definition, which differs from that historically used by many [31] [32] (though by no means all [33] [34] ) Christians and other Westerners, contemporary paganism is a smaller and more marginal numerical phenomenon. According to Encyclopedia Britannica estimates (as of 2005), adherents of Chinese folk religion account for some 6.3% of world population, and adherents of tribal religions ("ethnoreligionists") for another 4.0%. The number of adherents of Neo-paganism is insignificant in comparison, amounting to 0.02% of world population at the most, or some 0.4% of the "ethnoreligious" population. References

Question: Which word for a non-Christian or heathen is derived from the Latin for peasant or rustic?
Answer: PAGAN