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heterodox

[het-er-uh-doks]

adjective

not in accordance with established or accepted doctrines or opinions, especially in theology; unorthodox.

holding unorthodox doctrines or opinions.

Origin:
1610–20; < Greek heteródoxos of another opinion, equivalent to hetero- hetero- + dóx(a) opinion (Compare dokeîn to think, suppose) + -os adj. suffix

Related forms

het·er·o·dox·ly, adverb

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Heterodox is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Example Sentences

This article is wonderfully complementary to this existing, largely heterodox, literature in economics.

Collins

World English Dictionary

heterodox (ˈhɛtərəʊˌdɒks)

—*adj*
1.	at variance with established, orthodox, or accepted doctrines or beliefs
2.	holding unorthodox opinions

[C17: from Greek heterodoxos holding another opinion, from hetero- + doxa opinion]

'heterodoxy

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

heterodox

1619, from Gk. heterodoxos, from heteros "the other" + doxa "opinion."

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"When theology erodes and organization crumbles, when the institutional framework of religion begins to break up, the search for a direct experience which people can feel to be religious facilitates the rise of cults. A cult differs from a formal religion in many significant ways. It is in the nature of a cult to claim some esoteric knowledge which has been submerged (or repressed by orthodoxy) for a long time but has now suddenly been illuminated. There is often some heterodox figure, mocked or scorned by the orthodox, who presents these new teachings. There are communal rites which often permit or spur an individual to act out impulses that had hitherto been repressed. In the cult, one feels as though one were exploring novel or hitherto taboo modes of conduct. What defines a cult, therefore, is its implicit emphasis on magic rather than theology, on the personal tie to a guru or to the group, rather than to an institution or a creed."

-Daniel Bell

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