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infidel - 5 dictionary results

in⋅fi⋅del

[in-fi-dl, -del]
–noun
1. Religion.
a. a person who does not accept a particular faith, esp. Christianity.
b. (in Christian use) an unbeliever, esp. 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, esp. 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.

Origin:
1425–75; late ME < LL infidēlis unbelieving, L: unfaithful, treacherous. See in- 3 , feal


1–3. See atheist.
in·fi·del   (ĭn'fĭ-dəl, -děl')   
n.  
  1. Offensive An unbeliever with respect to a particular religion, especially Christianity or Islam.
  2. One who has no religious beliefs.
  3. One who doubts or rejects a particular doctrine, system, or principle.

[Middle English infidele, from Old French, from Latin īnfidēlis, disloyal : in-, not; see in-1 + fidēlis, faithful (from fidēs, faith; see bheidh- in Indo-European roots).]

Infidel

In"fi*del\, a. [L. infidelis; pref. in- not + fidelis faithful, fr. fides faith: cf. F. infid[`e]le. See Fidelity.] Not holding the faith; -- applied esp. to one who does not believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures, and the supernatural origin of Christianity.

The infidel writer is a great enemy to society. --V. Knox.

Infidel

In"fi*del\, n. One who does not believe in the prevailing religious faith; especially, one who does not believe in the divine origin and authority of Christianity; a Mohammedan; a heathen; a freethinker.

Note: Infidel is used by English writers to translate the equivalent word used Mohammedans in speaking of Christians and other disbelievers in Mohammedanism.

Syn: Infidel, Unbeliever, Freethinker, Deist, Atheist, Sceptic, Agnostic.

Usage: An infidel, in common usage, is one who denies Christianity and the truth of the Scriptures. Some have endeavored to widen the sense of infidel so as to embrace atheism and every form of unbelief; but this use does not generally prevail. A freethinker is now only another name for an infidel. An unbeliever is not necessarily a disbeliever or infidel, because he may still be inquiring after evidence to satisfy his mind; the word, however, is more commonly used in the extreme sense. A deist believes in one God and a divine providence, but rejects revelation. An atheist denies the being of God. A sceptic is one whose faith in the credibility of evidence is weakened or destroyed, so that religion, to the same extent, has no practical hold on his mind. An agnostic remains in a state of suspended judgment, neither affirming nor denying the existence of a personal Deity.

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 Ar. 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).
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