pagan
Plural: pagans
Noun
- A person with religious beliefs other than the main world religions.
- a person who does not acknowledge your god
- a person who follows a polytheistic or pre-Christian religion (not a Christian or Muslim or Jew)
- someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures
- A person not adhering to a main world religion; a follower of a pantheistic or nature-worshipping religion.
- An uncivilized or unsocialized person.
- An unruly, badly educated child.
- An outlaw biker who is a member of the Pagans MC.
Adjective Satellite
- not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and Islam
Adj
- Relating to, characteristic of religions that differ from main world religions.
- Savage, immoral, uncivilized, wild.
Examples
- He felt like a PAGAN trying to decipher the ancient Scrabble dictionary for obscure words.
- This community has a surprising number of pagans.
- Under Christianization, many converted societies transformed their pagan deities into saints.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English pagan (adjective and noun), from Latin pāgānus (“rural, rustic", later "civilian”), replaced Middle English payen from the same root.
The meaning "not Christian" arose in Vulgar Latin, probably from the 4th century, owing to the Roman countryside being largely non-christian, or potentially from the "civilian" meaning - denoting those not in the "army of Christ". As a self-designation of neopagans, attested since 1990.
Partly displaced native heathen, from Old English hǣþen.
Synonyms
ethnic, gentile, heathen, heathenish, hedonist, infidel, pleasure seeker, barbarian, barbaric, brat, paynim, philistine, savage
Scrabble Score: 8
pagan: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordpagan: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
pagan: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary