Added 10 October 2026
heathenism
noun
In Latin: pāgānismus, pāgānitās, gentīlitās Coined: 17th century Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. More about heathenism at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Any of various religions other than Christianity or Judaism or Islamism.
Origin
From heathen + -ism, coined in the 17th century in place of the then-obsolete heathendom. First attested in Francis Bacon's Of the advancement of learning (1605), II. xiv. §9: "The heresy of the Anthropomorphites … and the opinion of Epicurus, answerable to the same in heathenism, who supposed the gods to be in human shape" (OED).
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