heathen

adjectivenounattested in dialogue

//ˈhiːðən//

Not adhering to an Abrahamic religion; pagan.

adjective

1
Not adhering to an Abrahamic religion; pagan.
War of holy principles I'm seeking God's help in your destruction Slit the throat of heathen man And let his blood dilute the water, bury your dead
2
Uncultured; uncivilized; savage; barbarian.
3
Variant of HeathenAlternative letter-case form of Heathen (pertaining or adhering to the Germanic neo-pagan faith Heathenry).

Etymology

From Middle English hethen, from Old English hǣþen, from Proto-West Germanic *haiþin, from Proto-Germanic *haiþīnaz (“heathen, pagan”, adjective), equivalent to heath (“heathland”) + -en. Cognate with West Frisian heiden, Dutch heiden, Middle High German heiden, German Heiden, German Heide, Swedish heden, Danish hedensk (from heden+sk), Icelandic heiðinn. See also Proto-Germanic *haiduz, Old Norse heiðr (honour, bright, moor), Icelandic heiður (honour).

noun

1
A pagan; someone who is neither Christian, Jewish, nor Muslim (other Abrahamic or monotheistic religions may or may not be included)
On the heathens coming alongside the vessel, Otnit assumes the character of a merchant, and is admitted to enter the port.
V. Knox If it is no more than a moral discourse, he may preach it and they may hear it, and yet both continue unconverted heathens.
On hearing his cries two heathen who were hunting on the lagoon ran up, and they were bold enough to try to avenge the injury, making ready to shoot arrows at the soldiers, who fired two gunshots just to frighten them […]
2
An uncultured or uncivilized person, philistine.
3
Variant of HeathenAlternative letter-case form of Heathen (an adherent of the Germanic neo-pagan faith of Heathenry).

Forms

plural: heathens
comparative: heathener, more heathen
superlative: heathenest, most heathen

Heater · A surname.heath · A tract of level uncultivated land with sandy soil and…Heath · A surname.

heathen · Not adhering to an Abrahamic religion; pagan.

Heathen · Pertaining or adhering to the Germanic neo-pagan faith…heather · An evergreen plant, Calluna vulgaris, with spiky leaves and…Heather · A female given name from English.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.