Nearby Words

Infidel

[in-fi-dl, -del] Origin

in·fi·del

[in-fi-dl, -del]
noun
1.
Religion.
a.
a person who does not accept a particular faith, especially Christianity.
b.
(in Christian use) an unbeliever, especially a Muslim.
c.
(in Muslim use) a person who does not accept the Islamic faith; kaffir.
2.
a person who has no religious faith; unbeliever.
3.
(loosely) a person who disbelieves or doubts a particular theory, belief, creed, etc.; skeptic.
adjective
4.
not accepting a particular faith, especially Christianity or Islam; heathen.
5.
without religious faith.
6.
due to or manifesting unbelief: infidel ideas.
7.
rejecting the Christian religion while accepting no other; not believing in the Bible or any Christian divine revelation.
8.
Also, in·fi·del·ic [in-fi-del-ik] . of, pertaining to, or characteristic of unbelievers or infidels.

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Infidel is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English < Late Latin infidēlis unbelieving, Latin: unfaithful, treacherous. See in-3, feal


1–3. See atheist.

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World English Dictionary
infidel (ˈɪnfɪdəl)
 
n
1.  a person who has no religious belief; unbeliever
 
adj
2.  rejecting a specific religion, esp Christianity or Islam
3.  of, characteristic of, or relating to unbelievers or unbelief
 
[C15: from Medieval Latin infidēlis, from Latin (adj): unfaithful, from in-1 + fidēlis faithful; see feal]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

infidel
1460 (adj., n.), from M.Fr. infidèle, from L. infidelis "unfaithful," later "unbelieving," from in- "not" + fidelis "faithful" (see fidelity). In 15c. "a non-Christian" (especially a Saracen); later "one who does not believe in religion" (1526). Also used to translate
EXPAND
Arabic kafir, from a root meaning "to disbelieve, to deny," strictly referring to all non-Muslims but virtually synonymous with "Christian;" hence, from a Muslim or Jewish point of view, "a Christian" (1534).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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