heretic
See also: herètic
English
Alternative forms
- hæretic, heretike (archaic)
- hæretick, heretick (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English heretyk, heretike, from Old French eretique, from Medieval Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin haereticus, from Ancient Greek αἱρετικός (hairetikós, “able to choose, factious”), itself from Ancient Greek αἱρέω (hairéō, “I choose”).
Pronunciation
- (noun): (US) IPA(key): /ˈhɛɹɨtɪk/
Audio (UK) (file)
Noun
heretic (plural heretics)
- Someone who believes contrary to the fundamental tenets of a religion they claim to belong to.
- c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, OCLC 8728872, lines 17–19, page 62:
- He semeth a sysmatyke
Or els an heretike,
For fayth in hym is faynte.
- 1974, Thomas S. Szasz, M.D., chapter 11, in The Myth of Mental Illness, →ISBN, page 197:
- In the framework of traditional medical ethics, the patient
deserves humane attention only insofar as he is potentially
healthy and is willing to be healthy—just as in the framework
of traditional Christian ethics, the heretic deserved humane
attention only insofar as he was potentially a true believer and
was willing to become one. In the one case, people are
accepted as human beings only because they might be healthy
citizens; in the other, only because they might be faithful
Christians. In short, neither was heresy formerly, nor is sick-
ness now, given the kind of humane recognition which, from
the point of view of an ethic of respect and tolerance, they
deserve.
- In the framework of traditional medical ethics, the patient
-
- Someone who does not conform to generally accepted beliefs or practices
Synonyms
- apostate
- dissident
- nonconformist
- sectarian
- separatist
- withersake
Translations
someone who believes contrary to fundamentals
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Adjective
heretic (comparative more heretic, superlative most heretic)
- (archaic) Heretical; of or pertaining to heresy or heretics.
- Antonym: orthodox
Translations
heretical — see heretical
Related terms
- heresy
- heretical
Anagrams
- chierte, erethic, etheric, heteric, techier
Scots
Etymology
See heresy.
Noun
heretic (plural heretics)
- heretic
- (literary style) A poet who claims to have no religion, or to disdain one.
- He's as puir as the heretic baird. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)