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gnostic

 - 4 dictionary results
Gnostic Gospels & Jesus
What is the truth about Jesus? Scholars examine the facts
www.y-Jesus.com/GnosticGospels

gnos⋅tic

  [nos-tik]
Use gnostic in a Sentence
–adjective Also, gnos⋅ti⋅cal.
1. pertaining to knowledge.
2. possessing knowledge, esp. esoteric knowledge of spiritual matters.
3. (initial capital letter) pertaining to or characteristic of the Gnostics.
–noun
4. (initial capital letter) a member of any of certain sects among the early Christians who claimed to have superior knowledge of spiritual matters, and explained the world as created by powers or agencies arising as emanations from the Godhead.
Origin:
1555–65; < LL Gnōsticī (pl.) name of the sect < Gk gnōstikós (sing.) pertaining to knowledge, equiv. to gnōst(ós) known + -ikos -ic

Related forms:
gnos⋅ti⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
Gnostic Gospels & Jesus
What is the truth about Jesus? Scholars examine the facts
www.y-Jesus.com/GnosticGospels

-gnostic

 
a combination of -gnosis and -ic, used to form adjectives from stems ending in -gnosis: prognostic.
Origin:
< ML -gnōsticus < Gk gnōstikós pertaining to knowledge
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To gnostic
Gnos·tic   (nŏs'tĭk)   
adj.  

  1. gnostic Of, relating to, or possessing intellectual or spiritual knowledge.

  2. Of or relating to Gnosticism.

n.  A believer in Gnosticism.

[Late Latin Gnōsticus, a Gnostic, from Late Greek Gnōstikos, from Greek gnōstikos, concerning knowledge, from gnōsis, knowledge; see gnosis.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

Gnostic 
c.1585, from L.L. gnosticus, from Late Gk. gnostikos, noun use of adj. gnostikos "knowing, able to discern," from gnostos "knowable," from gignoskein "to learn, to come to know" (see know). Applied to various early Christian sects that claimed direct personal knowledge beyond the Gospel or the Church hierarchy. The adj. meaning "relating to knowledge" (with lower-case g-) is from 1656.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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