infidel

infidel (ˈɪnfɪd^əl)

—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]

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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

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).

Example sentences

The obligation of holy war therefore begins at home and continues abroad, against the same infidel enemy.

In the eyes of the state, this made him the apostate, a member of the unprotected infidel community.

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Related Words

agnostic atheist Kaffir

Kafir miscreant unfaithful

Matching Quote

"Have been reading "Genesis" several Sundays, not as a Christian reads for "spiritual consolation," "instruction," etc., not as an infidel reads to carp and quarrel and criticize, but as one who wishes to be informed and furnished in the earliest and most wonderful of all literary productions. The literature of the Bible should be studied as one studies Shakespeare, for illustration and language, for its true pictures of man and woman nature, for its early historical record."

-Rutherford Birchard Hayes