2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Dogma  \Dog"ma\,  n.;  pl  E.  {Dogmas},  L.  {Dogmata}.  [L.  dogma, 
  Gr  ?,  pl  ?,  fr  ?  to  think,  seem,  appear;  akin  to  L.  decet 
  it  is  becoming.  Cf  {Decent}.] 
  1.  That  which  is  held  as  an  opinion;  a  tenet;  a  doctrine. 
 
  The  obscure  and  loose  dogmas  of  early  antiquity.  -- 
  Whewell 
 
  2.  A  formally  stated  and  authoritatively  settled  doctrine;  a 
  definite,  established,  and  authoritative  tenet. 
 
  3.  A  doctrinal  notion  asserted  without  regard  to  evidence  or 
  truth;  an  arbitrary  dictum. 
 
  Syn:  tenet;  opinion;  proposition;  doctrine. 
 
  Usage:  --  {Dogma},  {Tenet}.  A  tenet  is  that  which  is 
  maintained  as  true  with  great  firmness;  as  the  tenets 
  of  our  holy  religion.  A  dogma  is  that  which  is  laid 
  down  with  authority  as  indubitably  true,  especially  a 
  religious  doctrine;  as  the  dogmas  of  the  church.  A 
  tenet  rests  on  its  own  intrinsic  merits  or  demerits;  a 
  dogma  rests  on  authority  regarded  as  competent  to 
  decide  and  determine.  Dogma  has  in  our  language 
  acquired,  to  some  extent,  a  repulsive  sense  from  its 
  carrying  with  it  the  idea  of  undue  authority  or 
  assumption.  This  is  more  fully  the  case  with  its 
  derivatives  dogmatical  and  dogmatism. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  dogma 
  n  1:  a  religious  doctrine  that  is  proclaimed  as  true  without 
  proof  [syn:  {belief},  {tenet}] 
  2:  a  doctrine  or  code  of  beliefs  accepted  as  authoritative;  "he 
  believed  all  the  Marxist  dogma" 

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