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Synonyms
heresy
- 6 dictionary resultsher⋅e⋅sy
[her-uh-see] 
–noun, plural -sies.
| 1. | opinion or doctrine at variance with the orthodox or accepted doctrine, esp. of a church or religious system. |
| 2. | the maintaining of such an opinion or doctrine. |
| 3. | Roman Catholic Church. the willful and persistent rejection of any article of faith by a baptized member of the church. |
| 4. | any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs, customs, etc. |
Origin:
1175–1225; ME heresie < OF eresie < L haeresis school of thought, sect < Gk haíresis, lit., act of choosing, deriv. of haireîn to choose
1175–1225; ME heresie < OF eresie < L haeresis school of thought, sect < Gk haíresis, lit., act of choosing, deriv. of haireîn to choose
Synonyms:
4. dissent, iconoclasm, dissension.
4. dissent, iconoclasm, dissension.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To heresy
| her·e·sy (hěr'ĭ-sē) n. pl. her·e·sies
[Middle English heresie, from Old French, from Late Latin haeresis, from Late Greek hairesis, from Greek, a choosing, faction, from haireisthai, to choose, middle voice of hairein, to take.] |
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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Heresy
Her"e*sy\, n.; pl. Heresies. [OE. heresie, eresie, OF. heresie, iresie, F. h['e]r['e]sie, L. haeresis, Gr. ? a taking, a taking for one's self, choosing, a choice, a sect, a heresy, fr. ? to take, choose.] 1. An opinion held in opposition to the established or commonly received doctrine, and tending to promote a division or party, as in politics, literature, philosophy, etc.; -- usually, but not necessarily, said in reproach. New opinions Divers and dangerous, which are heresies, And, not reformed, may prove pernicious. --Shak. After the study of philosophy began in Greece, and the philosophers, disagreeing amongst themselves, had started many questions . . . because every man took what opinion he pleased, each several opinion was called a heresy; which signified no more than a private opinion, without reference to truth or falsehood. --Hobbes. 2. (Theol.) Religious opinion opposed to the authorized doctrinal standards of any particular church, especially when tending to promote schism or separation; lack of orthodox or sound belief; rejection of, or erroneous belief in regard to, some fundamental religious doctrine or truth; heterodoxy. Doubts 'mongst divines, and difference of texts, From whence arise diversity of sects, And hateful heresies by God abhor'd. --Spenser. Deluded people! that do not consider that the greatest heresy in the world is a wicked life. --Tillotson. 3. (Law) An offense against Christianity, consisting in a denial of some essential doctrine, which denial is publicly avowed, and obstinately maintained. A second offense is that of heresy, which consists not in a total denial of Christianity, but of some its essential doctrines, publicly and obstinately avowed. --Blackstone. Note: "When I call dueling, and similar aberrations of honor, a moral heresy, I refer to the force of the Greek ?, as signifying a principle or opinion taken up by the will for the will's sake, as a proof or pledge to itself of its own power of self-determination, independent of all other motives." --Coleridge.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : heresy
Spanish:
herejía,
German:
die Ketzerei,
Japanese:
異端
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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heresy
"an opinion of private men different from that of the catholick and orthodox church" [Johnson], c.1225, from O.Fr. heresie, from L. hæresis, "school of thought, philosophical sect," used by Christian writers for "unorthodox sect or doctrine," from Gk. hairesis "a taking or choosing," from haireisthai "take, seize," middle voice of hairein "to choose," of unknown origin. The Gk. word was used in N.T. in ref. to the Sadducees, Pharisees, and even the Christians, as sects of Judaism, but in Eng. bibles it is usually translated sect. Meaning "religious belief opposed to the orthodox doctrines of the Church" evolved in L.L. in the Dark Ages. Heretic (c.1330) is ult. from Gk. hairetikos "able to choose," the verbal adj. of hairein
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Heresy
from a Greek word signifying (1) a choice, (2) the opinion chosen, and (3) the sect holding the opinion. In the Acts of the Apostles (5:17; 15:5; 24:5, 14; 26:5) it denotes a sect, without reference to its character. Elsewhere, however, in the New Testament it has a different meaning attached to it. Paul ranks "heresies" with crimes and seditions (Gal. 5:20). This word also denotes divisions or schisms in the church (1 Cor. 11:19). In Titus 3:10 a "heretical person" is one who follows his own self-willed "questions," and who is to be avoided. Heresies thus came to signify self-chosen doctrines not emanating from God (2 Pet. 2:1).
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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