5 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Heathen \Hea"then\, a.
1. Gentile; pagan; as a heathen author. ``The heathen
philosopher.'' ``All in gold, like heathen gods.'' --Shak.
2. Barbarous; unenlightened; heathenish.
3. Irreligious; scoffing.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Heathen \Hea"then\ (?; 277), n.; pl {Heathens}or collectively
{Heathen}. [OE. hethen, AS h??en, prop. an adj fr h??
heath, and orig., therefore, one who lives in the country or
on the heaths and in the woods (cf. pagan, fr pagus
village); akin to OS h??in, adj., D. heiden a heathen, G.
heide, OHG. heidan, Icel. hei?inn, adj., Sw heden, Goth.
haipn?, n. fem. See {Heath}, and cf {Hoiden}.]
1. An individual of the pagan or unbelieving nations, or
those which worship idols and do not acknowledge the true
God; a pagan; an idolater.
2. An irreligious person.
If it is no more than a moral discourse, he may
preach it and they may hear it and yet both
continue unconverted heathens. --V. Knox.
{The heathen}, as the term is used in the Scriptures, all
people except the Jews; now used of all people except
Christians, Jews, and Mohammedans.
Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance. --Ps. ii 8.
Syn: Pagan; gentile. See {Pagan}.
From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]:
heathen
adj : not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and
Islam [syn: {heathenish}, {pagan}]
n : a person who does not acknowledge your God [syn: {pagan}, {gentile},
{infidel}]
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Heathen
(Heb. plural goyum). At first the word _goyim_ denoted generally
all the nations of the world (Gen. 18:18; comp. Gal. 3:8). The
Jews afterwards became a people distinguished in a marked manner
from the other _goyim_. They were a separate people (Lev. 20:23;
26:14-45; Deut. 28), and the other nations, the Amorites,
Hittites, etc., were the _goyim_, the heathen, with whom the
Jews were forbidden to be associated in any way (Josh. 23:7; 1
Kings 11:2). The practice of idolatry was the characteristic of
these nations, and hence the word came to designate idolaters
(Ps. 106:47; Jer. 46:28; Lam. 1:3; Isa. 36:18), the wicked (Ps.
9:5, 15, 17).
The corresponding Greek word in the New Testament, _ethne_,
has similar shades of meaning. In Acts 22:21, Gal. 3:14, it
denotes the people of the earth generally; and in Matt. 6:7, an
idolater. In modern usage the word denotes all nations that are
strangers to revealed religion.
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
HEATHEN, n. A benighted creature who has the folly to worship
something that he can see and feel According to Professor Howison
of the California State University, Hebrews are heathens.
"The Hebrews are heathens!" says Howison He's
A Christian philosopher. I'm
A scurril agnostical chap, if you please,
Addicted too much to the crime
Of religious discussion in my rhyme.
Though Hebrew and Howison cannot agree
On a _modus vivendi_ -- not they! --
Yet Heaven has had the designing of me
And I haven't been reared in a way
To joy in the thick of the fray.
For this of my creed is the soul and the gist,
And the truth of it I aver:
Who differs from me in his faith is an 'ist,
And 'ite, an 'ie, or an 'er --
And I'm down upon him or her!
Let Howison urge with perfunctory chin
Toleration -- that's all very well
But a roast is nuts" to his nostril thin,
And he's running -- I know by the smell --
A secret and personal Hell!
Bissell Gip
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