Judeo-Islamo-Christian

Receiving a Merina blessing is not just the receipt of supernatural benediction, as it is in the Judeo-Islamo-Christian tradition, it is something which materially transforms inwardly, as though it were a kind of internal coral.

1987, Göran Aijmer, editor, Symbolic Textures: Studies in Cultural Meaning, Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, →ISBN, →OL, page 25:

Because the Middle East is the cradle of the Judeo-Islamo-Christian paradigm, the sectarian milieu, as John Wansbrough put it in a fundamental book on the semantic structure of religions,24 has remained relevant worldwide.

1990, Chibli Mallat, “Islamic Family Law: Variations on State Identity and Community Rights”, in Chibli Mallat, Jane Frances Connors, editors, Islamic Family Law, Brill, →ISBN, →OL, pages 5–6:

Whereas the Classical West was Judeo-Islamo-Christian and Greco-Arab, we have been led to believe that it was only Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian.

2008, “Friendship Above All”, in Teresa Lavender Fagin, transl., Islam & the West: A Conversation With Jacques Derrida, University of Chicago Press, translation of original by Mustapha Chérif, →ISBN, →OL, page xxi:

Of or pertaining to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.


churchwarden's pew

en-noun

churchwarden's pew (plural churchwarden's pews)

A type of church pew, typically on the west side, originally reserved for the churchwarden, and often decorated or engraved.


govi

From Haitian Creole [Term?], from Fon [Term?].

In due course of time, the parent in the govi becomes grandparent and the grandparent becomes ancestor.

1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 28:

So these govi used to sit on your father's family altar, but now they are on yours?

1995, Mama Lola & Karen McCarthy Brown, in Cosentino (ed.), Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, South Sea International Press 1998, p. 232

The importance and significance of the govi can hardly be overstressed because it enables as well as brings to light the Voduists' reverence for their ancestors, a ubiquitous and fundamental feature of African religion in general.

2009, Ama Mazama, Encyclopedia of African Religion, volume 1, page 297:

A sacred urn or pitcher in Haitian voodoo, used to hold the spirit of an ancestor.


pharisaicalness

Romanticism fumes against what it sees as the puritanism and pharisaicalness of mainstream culture, while ultimately remaining blind to the fact that it's entirely dependent upon embodying the very thing it ridicules.

2014, Mark Sayers, Facing Leviathan: Leadership, Influence, and Creating in a Cultural Storm:

(chiefly Christianity) The quality of being pharisaical.


christfag

Gee, maybe someday Chavez will kill as many people as noted christfag Dubya did.

2012 April 16, Phlip [username], “Re: Atheist Obama's buddy Chavez breaks down during religious service, begs Jesus Christ for life”, in alt.atheism (Usenet):

what we have here is a simple case of discrimination against a genetically defined group with a specific genetically defined sexual preference, like, the christfags did against gays a couple of years earlier.

2013 June 25, Ragnar Jacob Stephens (quoting a Facebook post by someone else), “Andrew [surname redacted] & Sven [surname redacted] & Child Pornography”, in news.admin.net-abuse.email (Usenet):

2014 September 26, Caridad Belle Kunkel, “Re: Att. Christfags: Satan's scriptures are coming soon to a school near you!”, in alt.politics.democrat (Usenet):

(Internet slang, vulgar, derogatory) An overzealous Christian.


abbot primate

abbot primate (plural abbots primate or abbot primates)

abbots primate (plural)
abbot primates (plural)

(Catholicism) The representative leader of all Benedictine congregations.


Siwa

From Latin Siwa, from Slavic Šiwa (Živa, Ziva, Zhiva).

(Slavic mythology) The Slavic goddess of fertility.


Janaki

Borrowed from Sanskrit जानकी (jānakī), from Sanskrit जनक (janaka).

(Hinduism) An epithet (patronymic) of Sita in Ramayana.


Vali

(Hinduism) King of Kishkindha, a son of Indra and the elder brother of Sugriva in Ramayana.


Urvashi

One of the most beautiful apsaras in Hindu mythology.

ウルヴァシー

the most prominent apsara from Hindu mythology


Menaka

In Hindu mythology, one of the most beautiful of the apsaras and the wife of Himavat.


Rambha

(Hinduism) One of the most beautiful apsaras in Hindu mythology.

রম্ভা

(mythology) one of the most beautiful apsaras in Hindu mythology


Kausalya

Borrowed from Sanskrit कौसल्या (kausalyā).

bor+

(Hinduism) The eldest wife of King Dasaratha, queen of Ayodhya and the mother of Rāma.


Banasura

(Hinduism) A thousand-armed asura and son of Bali. His daughter is Usha.


Angada

(Hinduism) Son of Vali, King of Kishkindha in Ramayana.


Bharata

A legendary emperor of India, and is referred to in Hindu and Jain theology. He was son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala.

(Hinduism) Younger brother of Rāma in Ramayana.


apsara

Borrowed from Hindi अप्सरा (apsarā), descended from Sanskrit अप्सरस् (apsaras).

But the boy's relatives don't sit on their behinds and wait for a pari or an apsara to drop out of the heavens.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 40:

But here was an apsara rising out of the waters of a holy Ganga, raising her arms in salutation to the sun rising above the range of hills and offering her behind to him to marvel at and worship.

2004, Khushwant Singh, Burial at Sea, Penguin, published 2014, page 102:

Don't burn us with your fierce austerities, O master. I'll have to send apsaras to distract you.

2006, Vikram Chandra, Sacred Games, volume 1, Penguin, published 2007, page 17:

(Indian mythology, Hinduism, Buddhism) A female spirit of the clouds and waters.

অপ্সরা

a female spirit of the clouds and waters


Lakshmana

Borrowed from Sanskrit लक्ष्मण (lakṣmaṇa).

(Hinduism) The younger brother of Rāma, an avatar of Shesha.

A male given name from Sanskrit used mostly in India.


Rāma

(Hinduism) A mythological king of Ayodhya in ancient India, considered as the seventh avatar of Vishnu and a lila-avatara described in Bhagavata Purana; one of the most worshipped Hindu deities.


Agastya

(Hinduism) One of the Saptarishis (seven sages), a revered Vedic sage and the author of Agastya Samhita.


Ayodhya

Borrowed from Sanskrit अयोध्या (ayodhyā).

A city, the administrative headquarters of Ayodhya district, Uttar Pradesh, India, on the bank of the Sarayu river.

(Hinduism, historical) A legendary city, the ancient capital of Kosala kingdom, and birthplace of the Hindu deity Rāma.


qewl

From Northern Kurdish qewl (“word, speech”), from Arabic قول (qawl).

In Kurmanji, the dialect spoken by most Yezidis and northern Kurds, the holiest of hymns is a qewl.

2017 September 13, Alex Cuadros, “Songs from Sinjar”, in Lapham’s Quarterly, retrieved 2020-07-03:

(ethnomusicology, religion) A Yazidi hymn.


Dhruva

(Hinduism) A Puranic child sage who become the pole star.


harikatha

A form of Hindu religious discourse in which the storyteller explores a religious theme, usually the life of a saint or a story from an Indian epic.


Brihaspati

Borrowed from Sanskrit बृहस्पति (bṛhaspati).


Arundhati

(Hinduism) The wife of the sage Vasishtha, celebrated for her virtue.


Daksha

(Hinduism) "the skilled one", is an ancient creator god, one of the Prajapatis.


Alawite

(Islam) A member of a mystical Shiite Islamic group that reveres Ali ibn Abi Talib.


Hari

(Hinduism) A name or epithet given commonly to Vishnu, but also to Indra and Yama.

A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.


Vyasa

(Hinduism) Name of a Hindu sage. One who classified the Vedas into four parts. He is the author of the Mahabharata.


Subhadra

(Hinduism) Subhadra, daughter of Vasudeva, and Rohini, sister of Krishna, and Balarama, wife of Arjuna and the mother of Abhimanyu

A female given name from Sanskrit mostly used in India.


Sabari

(Hinduism) A staunch devotee of Rāma in Ramayana.

A tributary of the Godavari river in India.


Urmila

(Hinduism) The daughter of King Janaka of Mithila and the younger sister of Sita. She was the wife of Lakshmana in Ramayana.


Sumitra

(Hinduism) The third wife of King Dasharatha; mother of twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna in Ramayana.


Abhimanyu

From Sanskrit अभिमन्यु (abhimanyu, “Abhimanyu”).

bor

The son of Arjuna and Subhadra in Mahabharata.


Sugriva

From Sanskrit सुग्रीव (sugrīva, “handsome-necked”).

uder

(Hinduism) The younger brother of Vali, whom he succeeded as ruler of the Kishkindha in Ramayana.


Judeo-Christian-Islamic

Hell appears in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic context originally as a place of smoke and fire.

2010, Christopher M. Moreman, Beyond the Threshold: Afterlife Beliefs and Experiences in World Religions, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, page 251:

Of or pertaining to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam collectively.


psychophony

From psycho- (“mind”) + -phony (“voice”).

Their motives are perhaps not entirely laudable and probably they are being fooled; but even if they are not getting authentic messages from the dead, yet some queer things have happened and are happening as a result of psychophony.

1922, Harper's Monthly Magazine, volume 145, page 679:

In this way the ancient knowledge of Pythagoras is applied in the most modern form of psychophony, and in this way, for the first time in the existence of the present world, the special mind-power vibrations which you require are reproduced on the invisible ether, at your command, by the use of the psychophonic records.

1996, C. De Radwan, The Secret of Mind Power and How to Use It, →ISBN, page 48:

Not uncommonly, the vibrations produce a sensation of inflation common in psychophony (vocal channeling) with the apparent expansion and swelling of the hands, feet, lips, cheeks, chin and solar plexus area.

2011, Sandie Gustus, Less Incomplete: A Guide to Experiencing the Human Condition beyond the Physical Body:

The third is the message of one or more spirits, which in psychophony is identified only as a spiritual friend.

2011, Group of Ethics Studies, The Ethics of Jesus Christ, →ISBN:

(spiritualism) Vocal communication with the dead or with spirits.


Ganapati

(Hinduism) Lord of the demigods attending on Shiva. An epithet of Ganesha.


newchurch

The capture of middle and senior management positions in Catholic education by newchurch trendies has a parallel in government education circles.

1987, Fidelity, volume 7, Wanderer Forum Foundation:

[…] fanned by applause and encouragement from the secular media and fueled by the newchurch rhetoric

[…] irrespective of the training college being Newchurch modernist, moderate, conservative or traditional.

1987, J. Haynes, J.F. Archibald, The Bulletin, numbers 5585-5593:

Let us keep them from being bullied by "newchurch" priests or intimidated by disapproving co-religionists.

1999, New Oxford Review, volume 66, American Church Union:

(derogatory) Describing Christians or forms of Christianity seen as being marked by liberalism, influence from modern concepts and trends, novelty etc. and disregard for established or traditional beliefs and practices.


Ramadhan

(Islam) alternative spelling of Ramadan.


dargah

/ˈdɜː(ɹ)ɡɑː/

/ˈdɑː(ɹ)ɡɑː/

From Hindustani درگاہ / दरगाह (dargāh), from Classical Persian درگاه (dargāh). See also English eidgah.

If not for the fakir's dargah the village might well have melted back into the mud, its inhabitants not being the kind of people to tarry long in one place […].

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 61:

But beyond the dargah, and the medieval warren in which it sits, north India's present-day politics can be a good deal less accommodating of religious diversity.

2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 86:

(Islam, South Asia) A shrine associated with the grave of a Muslim saint or similar religious figure.


Threeness

From Middle English *Threnesse, Thrumnesse, Thrimnesse, from Old English þrynnes, þrinness, variants of Old English þrȳnes, þrīnes (“Trinity”), equivalent to three + -ness.

[...] and I might not look at the brightness of His face save through a sheen mirror between me and Him that shields my eyes. So I have often seen the Holy Threeness, Father and Son and Holy Ghost, three in one, and but a little while might I bear the light.

1949, Margaret Anne Williams, Glee-wood:

I'm not sure why God needs three forms — Father, Son, Holy Spirit. I don't know why we just can't say God. ... Jon went on for a while talking about the Trinity, the "Threeness and Oneness." It didn't sound as if he was convinced, though.

2001, Brian Payton, Hail Mary Corner, Dundurn:

Therefore concern yourselves, you philosophers: how God has created this world in six days. For the work of each day is a creation of a spirit in the Holy Threeness, and the seventh day is the rest of the Sabbath of God, in the seventh [...]

2010, Jeff Bachl, translated by Michael L. Birkel, Genius of the Transcendent: Mystical Writings of Jakob Boehme, Shambhala, translation of original by Jakob Boehme:

(Christianity) In Christian belief, the three persons (personae) of the Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; Trinity.


Greek cross

(heraldry) A cross with orthogonal arms of equal length.


vicar of Christ

en-noun

vicar of Christ (plural vicars of Christ)

Bishops, as vicars and ambassadors of Christ, govern the particular churches entrusted to them by their counsel, exhortations, example, and even by their authority and sacred power...

1964, Pope Paul VI, Lumen Gentium, III. xxvii:


Vicar of Christ

Vicar of Christ (plural Vicars of Christ)

Calque of Ecclesiastical Latin vicārius Christī.

calque

"We should never have had the law of 1571, against bulls, and Agnus Deis, and blessed grains, if the Pope's bull of 1569 had not made them matter of treason."
"What, sir?" almost roared Parsons, "do you dare to speak evil of the edicts of the Vicar of Christ?"

1855, Charles Kingsley, chapter 4, in Westward Ho!:

[I]n the spacious ceremonial library of the 16th century Apostolic Palace, the czar of world atheism, Mikhail Gorbachev, will visit the Vicar of Christ, Pope John Paul II.

1989 December 4, Richard N. Ostling et al., “Religion: Cross Meets Kremlin—Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II”, in Time:

Not since 1522, when a Dutch theologian was elected Pope Adrian VI, had a non-Italian attained the role of Vicar of Christ.

2004 January 11, Roberto Pazzi, “Why the Next Pope Needs to Be Italian”, in New York Times:

Grant, then, . . . that the Holy Ghost had no such respect to any one (church) as to lead it into truth, although sent with this view by Christ, and for this asked of the Father that He might be the teacher of truth; grant, also, that He, the Steward of God, the Vicar of Christ, neglected His office . . .

1885, Tertullian, chapter XXVIII, in Peter Holmes, transl., Prescription against Heretics:

(Christianity, theology, very rare) The Holy Ghost.


Christard

We don't have any friends who are Christards or into any kind of faith-based hooey, so our children will just think that “damn it” naturally follows “god” like “fucker” naturally follows “mother.”

2011 August 16, Penn Jillette, God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales, New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →OL, LCC PN6231.R4 J55 2011, page 129:

(slang, religious slur) A stupid Christian, or a person to be considered stupid for adherence to religious faith in general or to the Christian faith in particular. Compare Jewtard.


Chrislam

A Nigerian syncretic religion founded by Nigerian clergyman Tela Tella which combines elements of Christianity and Islam.

(derogatory, religious slur) Any sect of Christianity or Islam deemed to have aspects of the other.


Nusayri

Arabic نُصَيْرِيَّة (nuṣayriyya), from the name of Ibn Nusayr.

uder

نُصَيْرِيَّة

(religion) A member of a prominent mystical religious group centred in Syria who follow a branch of the Twelver school of Shia Islam.


nonreturner

(Buddhism) A partially enlightened person.


fullhead

From Middle English fullhede, equivalent to full + -head.

But for we may not have this in fullhead while we be here ; therefore it befalleth us ever to live in sweet praying, and in lovely longing with our Lord Jesu, for he longeth ever for to bring us to the fulhead of joy, as it is before said;

1843, Juliana (of Norwich.), Hugh Paulin Cressy, George Hargreave Parker, XVI revelations of divine love

Soothlie, we never maie cease of our willing, ne of our loving, Until we have Him in the fullhead of joye that is promised.

The beginning of this contemplation may be felt in this life, but the fullhead of it is kept until the bliss of heaven.

For of all other creatures and their works, yea, and of the works of God's self, may a man through grace have fullhead of knowing, and well he can think of them: but of God Himself can no man think.

2011, Evelyn Underhill, The Cloud of Unknowing:

(usually archaic, or in reference to Christianity) Fullness.


rochet

From Middle English roket, rochet, from Anglo-Norman rochet, Middle French rochet, from Frankish (cf. Old English rocc (“overgarment”)).

Each priest adorn'd was in a surplice white, / The bishops don'd their albes and copes of state, // Above their rochets button'd fair before, / And mitres on their heads like crowns they wore.

1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, XI, iv

Or elſe they vvould ſtraine us out a certaine figurative Prelat, by vvringing the collective allegory of thoſe ſeven Angels into ſeven ſingle Rochets.

1642 (indicated as 1641), John Milton, “To the Argument of B[ishop] Andrews and the Primat”, in The Reason of Church-governement Urg’d against Prelaty […], London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Iohn Rothwell, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 8:

They will tell you that they see no difference between an idler with a hat and national cockade, and an idler in a cowl or in a rochet.

1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC:

A white vestment, worn by a bishop, similar to a surplice but with narrower sleeves, extending either to below the knee (in the Catholic church) or to the hem of the cassock in the Anglican church.


Tenebrae

/ˈtɛnəˌbɹeɪ/

/ˈtɛnəˌbɹiː/

Learned borrowing from Latin tenebrae (“shadows, darkness”).

lbor

(Christianity) A Christian religious service celebrated by the Western Church on the evening before or early morning of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, involving the gradual extinguishing of candles while a series of readings and psalms are chanted or recited.


Shafiite

Shafi'i + -ite, from the founder's name.

A member of the Shafi'i (Arabic: شافعي Šāfiʿī), one of the schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam, recognising four sources of jurisprudence.


chirograph

From Middle French chirographe, from Ancient Greek χειρόγραφος (kheirógraphos, “written with the hand”) χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write”).

der

(law, Catholicism) A papal decree whose circulation, unlike an encyclical, is limited to the Roman curia.


Tersanctus

Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin tersānctus, from ter (“thrice”) + sānctus (“holy”).

bor+

The Trisagion (beginning “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal …”).


Mithraeum

en-noun

Mithraeum (plural Mithraea or Mithraeums)

A grotto where the god Mithra was worshipped.


Temple of Heaven

Calque of Chinese 天壇／天坛 (Tiāntán, literally “Altar of Heaven”).

calque

Jonah Byrde: Y'know, in third grade, we learned about the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. There are like 600 acres and on the grounds there's this building called the Hall for Prayer for Good Harvests. It's circled by this thing called the Echo Wall.
Wendy Byrde: Ok, ok.
Jonah Byrde: You can go there and even when people are whispering you just hear the same things repeated over and over and over.
Wendy Byrde: Ok, enough. You wanna be a smartass? You want to hate me? Fine.

2022 January 21, Chris Mundy, Ozark, 00:41:05

A religious complex in southeastern Beijing, formerly important to Chinese imperial rituals; the present-day park surrounding and preserving the site.

(proscribed) The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the largest building in the complex, commonly confused as its focus.


Church of Ireland

The Anglican church body active in Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland).


Kolob

He resides in the center of the universe, near the planet Kolob. This planet revolves on its axis once in a thousand of our years, and one revolution of Kolob is a day to the Almighty.

1868, Catherine Van Valkenburg Waite, The Mormon Prophet and His Harem, or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and Children, Chicago: J. S. Goodman, page 170:

If you could hie to Kolob in the twinkling of an eye,
And then continue onward with that same speed to fly,
Do you think that you could ever, through all eternity,
Find out the generation where Gods began to be?

1985, William W. Phelps, “If You Could Hie to Kolob”, in Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, →ISBN, →OL, Hymn #284:

Once in a while, members get Kolob confused with the actual planet on which Heavenly Father resides. They are not the same. As you saw in verse 2, above, Kolob is the planet nearest to the planet on which the Father lives.

2005 December 1, David J. Ridges, Your Study of the Old Testament Made Easier: Part 1, Cedar Fort, page 140:

(Mormonism) In Mormon theology, a celestial body considered to be nearest to the throne of God.


Anno Hegirae

From the Latin annō Hegirae (“in the year of the Hijra”), from annō (“in the year”) (the ablative of annus (“year”)) + Hegirae (“of the Hijra”) (genitive of Hegira (“the Hijra”)). Formed in imitation of the Christian Anno Domini.

uder

This valuable manuscript was copied Anno Hegirae 1100 (a.d. 1688).

1859, Guillaume Libri, Catalogue of the extraordinary collection of splendid manuscripts, page 154:

In the year of the Hijra (counted by the Islamic calendar).


posek

Standard disclaimer.... I am not a posek. Always consult a real posek if you want a real p'sak. Poskim don't waste their time answering Usenet postings. :-)

1996 April 28, Jonathan Kamens, “Question on love affairs and illegitimate children”, in soc.culture.jewish (Usenet):

(Judaism) decisor; legal scholar who decides the Halacha in cases where previous authorities are inconclusive or no halakhic precedent exists.


Sisupala

(Hinduism) The king of Chedi and cousin of Krishna.


Kamsa

(Hinduism) The ruler of Mathura and brother of Devaki.


Vasudeva

(Hinduism) Vasudeva, husband of Devaki, and Rohini, son of Shurasena, and the father of Krishna, and Balarama


Devaki

(Hinduism) Devaki, cousin of Kamsa, wife of Vasudeva and the biological mother of Krishna.


Rukmini

Borrowed from Sanskrit रुक्मिणी (rukmiṇī).

(Hinduism) The wife of Lord Krishna; considered as an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi.

A female given name from Sanskrit mainly used in India.


Yashoda

Transliteration of Sanskrit यशोदा (yaśodā). The given name is a transliteration of Hindi यशोदा (yaśodā), etc.

translit

(Hinduism) The foster mother of Krishna.


Satyabhama

Borrowed from Sanskrit सत्यभामा (satyabhāmā).


Gatha

Transliteration of Avestan 𐬔𐬁𐬚𐬁 (gāθā). Doublet of gatha.

(Zoroastrianism) Any of the 17 hymns included in the Avesta believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself.

Գաթա

any of the 17 hymns included in the Avesta believed to have been composed


Servite

(historical) A member of the Servite Order, one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders.


Artotyrite

From Late Latin Artotyritae, plural, from Ancient Greek ἄρτος (ártos, “loaf”) + τυρός (turós, “cheese”).

(historical, Christianity) A member of a sect in the primitive church who celebrated the Lord's Supper with bread and cheese.


spiritual incest

(religion) The crime of cohabitation between persons who have a spiritual alliance by means of baptism or confirmation.

(religion) The act of a vicar, or other beneficiary, who holds two benefices, the one depending on the collation of the other.


protopapas

From Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”) + πάπας (pápas, “father”).

(religion, Greek Orthodox Church) A protopope.


hieromnemon

en-noun

hieromnemon (plural hieromnemons or hieromnemones)

hieromnemons (plural)
hieromnemones (plural)

From Ancient Greek ἱερομνήμων (hieromnḗmōn), from ἱερός (hierós, “sacred”) + μνήμων (mnḗmōn, “mindful, remembering”, from μνήμη (mnḗmē)).

(historical, Ancient Greece) The sacred secretary or recorder sent by each state belonging to the Amphictyonic Council, along with the deputy or minister.


Hasidism

(Judaism) a Jewish movement founded in Poland in the 18th century by Baal-Shem-Tov


halaqa

A religious gathering to study Islam and the Qur'an.


hexameron

From Ancient Greek ἑξαήμερον (hexaḗmeron, “six-day”).

der

He drew melancholy comparisons from Nature: men were compared to wandering clouds that dissolve into nothing, to wavering shadows, and shipwrecked beings, etc. His homilies on the Hexameron, too, shew thought of Nature.

1905, Alfred Biese, The Development of the Feeling for Nature In the Middle Ages and Modern Times, page 34:

(theology) The six days in which God created the world according to the biblical creation story.

(theology) The narrative in the Book of Genesis describing the events of the hexameron.


fairy lights

en-noun

fairy lights pl (normally plural, singular fairy light)

Through the trees ahead came odd strains from the dance band in the Casino, and now I could see many twinkling fairy lights and detect moving figures.

1930, Sax Rohmer, The Day the World Ended, published 1969, page i. 13:

I managed to put quite a lot of small baubles on the top of the tree that way and helped drape the long string of fairy lights around it, […]

2010, Trisha Ashley, Twelve Days of Christmas, HarperCollins, →ISBN:

A constant, slightly defocused, dinner party with relaxed glamorous friends, carrying on just outside the kitchen door, under the fairy lights.

2023 September 23, Tim Hayward, “Not so easy does it”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 19:

(UK, Ireland) Small electric lights on a strand which are used decoratively, especially on Christmas trees.


Passionist

A member of a Roman Catholic religious institute with a special emphasis on the Passion of Jesus Christ.

passionista

member of a Roman Catholic institute with emphasis on the Passion


Ogdoad

From Ancient Greek ὀγδοάς (ogdoás, “eight, a group of eight”).

uder

The group of eight primordial deities worshipped at Hermopolis in Ancient Egyptian times: Naunet and Nu, Amaunet and Amun, Kauket and Kuk, and Hauhet and Huh.


sadet

From French sadète, apparently from Lao.

The sadete who is most feared is the fire sadete, known especially by the savages of the Assamese slope; the water sadete exercises a less perceptible sway over the Laotian slope; the power of the wind sadete seems insignificant.

c. 1919, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, volume VII:

At Cêo-Rêo, not far from Buon Choah, are located the villages of those enigmatic personages, the Sadets, of Fire and Water, whose fearsome reputation is widespread throughout Indo-China.

1951, Norman Lewis, A Dragon Apparent, Eland, published 2003, page 121:

A type of spiritual leader or witch doctor among the Jarai people of Southeast Asia.


caesaropapism

en-noun

caesaropapism (countable and uncountable, plural caesaropapisms)

/ˌsiːzəɹəʊˈpeɪpɪzm̩/

From caesar + -o- + papism, probably modelled after New Latin caesaro-papia, coined by the German ecclesiastical jurist Justus Henning Böhmer (1674–1749) in his work Jus ecclesiasticum Protestantium (Ecclesiastical Law of the Protestants, 1714–1736).

coinage

Shari'a civil law and Ottoman secular fiscal and administrative practice were all combined with Byzantine Caesaropapism, entrenching the ruler as legislator and inhibiting the transition to the rule of law ultimately made in the Empire.

2016, Peter H[amish] Wilson, The Holy Roman Empire: A Thousand Years of Europe’s History, London: Allen Lane, Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 148:

(government, religion) The combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters.

Catholic University of America
Justus Henning Böhmer

皇帝教皇主義

こうていきょうこうしゅぎ


reviviscence

en-noun

reviviscence (countable and uncountable, plural reviviscences)

But, what is still more serious, it goes apparently against the theological doctrine of the reviviscence of the Sacraments.

1910, Pierre Pourrat, Theology of the Sacraments: A Study in Positive Theology, page 190:

Reviviscence means that, when this person converts and abandons sin, he will receive the special grace of the sacrament that was conferred.

2021, Jose Granados, Introduction to Sacramental Theology, page 293:

(religion) Revival; renewal of force, validity, or effect.


gray magic

The term “gray” evolved for magic that could be classified as neither white nor black. Minor revenge would be considered a type of gray magic.

2002, Marion Weinstein, Positive Magic: Ancient Metaphysical Techniques for Modern Lives, page 63:

Copper remembered the old Grimoire she and Silver had used to learn gray magic.

2006, Cheyenne McCray, Seduced by Magic, page 3:

(Wicca) Any magic which transcends or blends white magic and black magic.

magia gris

magic which transcends or blends white and black


Maronite

Of or pertaining to Saint Maron or the Maronite Church.

مَارُونِيّ

of or pertaining to Saint Maron or the Maronite Church


Elijah seat

But Cohn can and does extend "recognition," suspecting from the beginning a significant core of feeling in the immense isolato, seeing hints of a "true gentleman" and even going so far as to offer him the Elijah seat at the Seder.

1987, Joel Salzberg, Critical Essays on Bernard Malamud, G. K. Hall, →ISBN, page 219:

Because of my schedule of chores, the seder was half-over when I arrived and there was a choice of two seats: one right beside the rabbi, or else Elijah's seat, a chair that sits empty in case the prophet Elijah turns up with the Messiah in tow, on his donkey. I sat beside Michael as I am not Elijah, and I have absolutely no messianic pretensions or connections, and thus the Elijah seat implied responsibilities that I did not care to take on.

2003 September 7, Bonnie Glassford, Living the Sacred Story: A Journey Into the Landscape of the Bible, iUniverse, →ISBN, →OL, page 196:

The Elijah seat on which the sandák sits and the performance of the brit at the synagogue as a religious ritual are elements that help affirm the link to Judaism.

2004, Matilda Koén-Sarano, King Solomon and the Golden Fish: Tales from the Sephardic Tradition, Wayne State University Press, page 193:

(Judaism) In Jewish ceremonies, an unoccupied seat reserved for the prophet Elijah.


Parasceve

Borrowed from Latin parascevē, from Ancient Greek παρασκευή (paraskeuḗ, literally “preparation”).

der

And when evening was now come, (because it was the Parasceve, that is, the day before the sabbath,)

(Christianity) The day of preparation before the (Jewish) Sabbath; Friday.


synoptist

An author of one of the synoptic gospels, that is, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.


apostolicism

(Christianity) The quality of being apostolical; apostolicity.


technoshaman

One involved in the techno-shamanism movement.


Lollardism

(Christianity, historical) The doctrines or principles of the Lollards.

lollardismo

the doctrines or principles of the Lollards


Heathen

Pertaining or adhering to the Germanic neo-pagan faith Heathenry.

hedensk

pertaining or adhering to the faith of Heathenry


Heathen

[…] these examples, and others I have come across, illustrate most strikingly how Heathens follow a reactionary politics carefully constructed by politicians and pundits to help whites feel like victims, thereby making them useful political tools.

2013, Jennifer Snook, “Reconsidering Heathenry: The Construction of an Ethnic Folkway as Religio-ethnic Identity”, in Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, volume 16, number 3, page 61:

An adherent of the Germanic neo-pagan faith of Heathenry.


monoousian

/ˌmɒnəʊˈuːzɪən/

From Ancient Greek μονοούσιος (monooúsios, “of one substance”), from μόνος (mónos, “alone, only, sole, single”) + οὐσία (ousía, “being, substance, essence”) + -ian.

uder

But the homoousian Trinity of the orthodox went exactly in the middle, betwixt that monoousian trinity of Sabellius, which was a trinity of different notions or conceptions only of one and the self-same thing, and that other heteroousian trinity of Arius, which was a trinity of separate and heterogenous substances (one of which only was God, and the other creatures); […]

1678, Ralph Cudworth, The True Intellectual System of the Universe, volume I:

The use of the word "monoousian," as above, may mislead; for the orthodox view of the trinity has unquestionably and necessarily a monoousian basis; there is, and can be, but one essence in the godhead.

April 1867, The American Presbyterian and Theological Review, volume 5, number 18, page 339:

The trinitarian idea of personality lies midway between that of a mere form of manifestation, or a personation, which would lead to Sabellianism, and the idea of an independent, limited human personality, which would result in tritheism. In other words, it avoids the monoousian or unitarian trinity of a threefold conception and aspect of one and the same being, and the triousian or tritheistic trinity of three distinct and separate beings.

1884, Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, volume III, T. & T. Clark, pages 676–677:

(theology) Having one and the same nature or essence, especially with regard to the persons of the Trinity.

μονοούσιος

having one and the same nature or essence


charmel

And iudgement shal dwel in the wildernes, and iuſtice shal ſit in charmel.

1610, The Second Tome of the Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Lavrence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Isaie 32:16, page 494:


shamash

From Hebrew שַׁמָּשׁ (shamásh, “waiter, sexton”). Doublet of shammes, via Yiddish.

bor

The candelabras lit on Hanukkah are technically called hanukkiahs. They have eight candles plus one more, a shamash, that is used for lighting the others.

2023 December 7, Jacey Fortin, “For Some, the Symbols of Hanukkah Bring Extra Concern This Year”, in The New York Times:

(Judaism) The candle used to light the other eight candles of a Hanukkah menorah or hanukkiah.


law of attraction

The law of attraction is really obedience. When you think of the things that you want, and you focus on them with all of your intention, the law of attraction will give you what you want, every time.

If you're falling out of an airplane, the law of gravity trumps the law of attraction.

2008 June 4, Vinny Verelli, “I Got Your Secret Right Here”, in Vinny Vents, retrieved 2012-09-19:

She spoke with a woman who was so gung ho since learning about The Secret from watching an episode of Oprah that she was forgoing conventional medical advice about her cancer treatment. She'd decided to heal herself using the law of attraction.

2010 January 4, Robyn Okrant, Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment to Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk, New York: Center Street, →ISBN, →OL:

(New Age) The belief that thinking about someone or something attracts it and causes it or the individual to manifest in one's life.


counion

Counion with Him is His desire, not a robotic family who is programmed or shows up out of duty or obligation.

2015, Rhonda Ambrose, Beyond the Door, →ISBN:


Amidah

From Hebrew תפילת העמידה (‘ămîḏâ ha-təfilláṯ, “the standing prayer”).

der

תפילת העמידה

(Judaism) A prayer primarily consisting of nineteen blessings recited in a whisper while standing facing the site of the Temple in Jerusalem.


Semipelagianism

A Christian theological and soteriological school of thought on salvation, holding that the beginning of faith (and therefore salvation) is an act of free will, while the increase of faith is the work of God.


Christianophobia

The need to take greater account than in the past of two developments in measures to combat racism and discrimination: the increasing intertwining of race, ethnicity, culture and religion, and the rise of anti-Semitism, Christianophobia and Islamophobia[…]

2009, Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter, Heaven Forbid, page 56:

The fear or hatred of Christians or Christianity.


folk religion

en-noun

folk religion (countable and uncountable, plural folk religions)

Ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of an organized religion, but outside of official doctrine and practices.

民間信仰

religious customs under the umbrella of an organized religion but outside of official doctrine and practices


Dhritarashtra

Borrowed from Sanskrit धृतराष्ट्र (dhṛtarāṣṭra).

bor+

The king of Hastinapur in the Mahabharata.


Janamejaya

From Sanskrit जनमेजय (janamejaya, literally “causing men to tremble”).

bor

(Hinduism) Son of Parikshit, who performed Sarpayaga in Mahabharata.


Drona

The royal guru to Kauravas and Pandavas in Mahabharata.


Shakuni

(Hinduism) The personification of Dvapara Yuga, the brother of Gandhari in the Mahabharata.


BCP

Book of Common Prayer
w:Book of Common Prayer

(Anglicanism) Initialism of Book of Common Prayer.


abbotric

From Middle English abbodryche, abbotrice, from Old English abbodrice, abbotrice, from abbod (“abbot”) + rice (“realm, rule”); equivalent to abbot + -ric.


kollel

Borrowed from Hebrew כולל (“collective, community”).

bor+

(education, Judaism) An institute for full-time advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature.


Anemoi

(Greek mythology) The four Greek gods of the winds (Boreas, Notus, Eurus, and Zephyrus, who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came), considered collectively.


Astra Planeta

(Greek mythology) The five Greek gods of the "Wandering Stars", (i.e. "planets"), (Phaenon (Saturn), Phaethon (Jupiter), Pyroeis (Mars), Eosphorus/Hesperus (Venus), and Stilbon (Mercury). They were the sons of the Eos (goddess of the dawn) and Astraeus (god of the dusk), and their siblings were the four Anemoi ("winds").


Benjaminite

A descendant of the Biblical Benjamin; one of the tribe of Benjamin.

Joseph

Josephite: Ephraim (Ephraimite); Manasseh (Manassite)

Asher

descendants of the patriarch Jacob, later renamed Israel


neo-druidism

The religion and philosophical beliefs promoting harmony with nature, and drawing on the practices of the druids.


high cross

(Ireland, UK) a large free-standing Celtic cross made of stone and often richly decorated.


associatism

Associatism can take the form of venerating trees or the tombs of saints, seeking holy men or soothsayers as intermediaries with God, or putting one's faith in astrology.

2012, Khaled Hroub, Political Islam: Context Versus Ideology, →ISBN:

(religion) The worship of, or belief in, various entities associated with the divine.


Golden Gate

Calque of Latin Porta Aurea, Ancient Greek Χρῡσή Πύλη (Khrūsḗ Púlē).

Golden Gate
Golden Gate (disambiguation)

(Christianity) The oldest of the current gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls, through which, according to Jewish tradition, the shekinah used to appear and will appear again when the Messiah comes.


faitheist

Those are all appeals made either to the assumptions that Dennett shares with the belief-believers (or “faitheists”) or to their own priorities in ways that challenge their essential reasons for believing in belief.

2009 July 26, Daniel Fincke, “On The Alleged Intolerance Of The New Atheists Towards “Faitheists””, in Camels With Hammers, retrieved 2012-10-24:

I see the "faitheists" as parallels to the quietly closeted gays who cringed at the tactics of Act Up or the sit-in counter veterans who shook their heads at Malcolm X.

2009 August 19, dofang, “Distortions of the New Atheists prevent substantive debate about their impact (comment)”, in Examiner.com, retrieved 2012-10-24:

You're Not Helping is a blog started by a faitheist; that is, an atheist who sees value in faith or, at least, that some respect for their beliefs is in order. Even more particularly, a faitheist thinks that some atheist behaviour (typically labelled 'new atheist') is driving a wedge between 'moderate' theists and the rest of rational society.

2010 June 28, Mark Jones, “You Really Aren't Helping”, in Good Grief, Linus, retrieved 2012-10-24:

(slang, neologism) An atheist who thinks faith should not be criticized.

(slang, neologism, derogatory) An atheist who takes the nonexistence of gods on faith.


faitheist

en-adj

faitheist (comparative more faitheist, superlative most faitheist)

more faitheist (comparative)
most faitheist (superlative)


Christo-Islamic

Christo-Islamic (comparative more Christo-Islamic, superlative most Christo-Islamic)

more Christo-Islamic (comparative)
most Christo-Islamic (superlative)

He felt sure that in Toledo, among Goyas and El Grecos, in the spiritual climate of Christo-Islamic Spain as manifested in its art, he would be able to complete his elegies.

1996, Ralph Freedman, Life of a Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke, Northwestern University Press, →ISBN, page 352:

Information about the trans-Saharan supply of African gold was widely known in the Christo-Islamic financial circles of the Mediterranean and certainly reached the merchants of Lisbon.

1999, David Birmingham, Portugal and Africa, Palgrave, →ISBN, page 6:

There followed an ecumenical service focussed on Christo-Islamic harmony at St. Giles Cathedral.

2005, Richard Demarco, “Too Rough to Go Slow”, in Paul Henderson Scott, editor, Spirits of the Age: Scottish Self Portraits, The Saltire Society, →ISBN, page 115:


Semi-Arianism

A fourth-century Trinitarian heresy in the Christian church, claiming that the Son was "like" the Father but not of the same substance.


Menae

(Greek mythology) The 50 goddesses of the lunar months within a four-year Olympiad. They were the daughters of the Moon goddess, Selene, and her lover, Endymion, a mortal king. Their individual names are not attested in any sources. Singular: Mene.


cdesign proponentsist

en-noun

cdesign proponentsist (plural cdesign proponentsists)

From "cdesign proponentsists", a typographic splicing of design proponents into c[reation]ists, in a 1987 draft for the book Of Pandas and People when, after the US Supreme Court ruled that teaching creationism in US state schools was unconstitutional, the terms creationism and creationists were replaced by intelligent design and design proponents in an attempt to get around the ban.

On the “Wells lies. Again.” thread a few months ago, I pointed out to the cdesign proponentsist that the existence of Stupid Design falsified ID.

2007 December 15, David Marjanovi?, “Billy Dembski, pious and deluded (comment)”, in Pharyngula, retrieved 2012-10-28:

Famous cdesign proponentsist Dembski brought it up again recently in his list of ID "predictions"...

2008 February 18, Sparky, “What's that appendix for, anyway?”, in Discount Thoughts, retrieved 2012-10-28:

But you must not like him because he appointed Judge Jones, who ruled against the cdesign proponentsists, calling their nonsense "breathtaking inanity."

2011 April 8, Frank J, “Re: Warning to the NON-Christians in this group”, in alt.politics.homosexuality (Usenet), message-ID <7856598f-1cae-401b-9f88-9e658121fb4d@x3g2000yqj.googlegroups.com>:

(Internet slang, humorous, derogatory) A creationist.


pedilavium

pedilavium (plural pedilavia or pedilaviums)

Borrowed from Late Latin pedilavium (“footbath”), from Latin pedi- (“foot”) (from pēs (“foot”)) + lavāre (“to wash”) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns).

Part of the church service on Maundy Thursday is the pedilavium.

It is evident […] that the day [Maundy Thursday] was observed, as early as the fifth century, by the solemn celebration of the Lord's supper connected with the ceremony of the washing of feet (pedilavium). Augustin speaks of the celebration of the Lord's supper as being the more ancient and general custom, and of the pedilavium as of later introduction and more partial observance.

1839, J[oseph] E[smond] Riddle, “A More Particular Account of the Date, Names, and History of Ancient Festivals and Holy Days throughout the Year”, in A Manual of Christian Antiquities: Or, an Account of the Constitution, Ministers, Worship, Discipline, and Customs of the Ancient Church, Particularly during the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Centuries; to which is Prefixed an Analysis of the Writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers. Compiled from the Works of Augusti and Other Sources, 2nd edition, London: John W[illiam] Parker, West Strand, →OCLC, page 632:

Lovefeasts and choir-days were celebrated as covenant festivals, for which all were prepared by being reminded of the covenant of love to Christ and his people, in the speakings, pedilaviums, prostration meetings, and choir homilies (Biertel-Stunden), nor omitting the especial occasions for partaking of the cup of covenant.

1855 November, “Essential Characteristics of the Brethren’s Unity”, in The Moravian Church Miscellany. A Monthly Journal of the United Brethren in America, volume VI, number XI, Bethlehem, Pa.: Published for the Church of the United Brethren, →OCLC, page 326:

Sweeping was like the pedilavium, a purification of the floor of the house and the feet of the believer, contaminated by the insidious flow of a dissipating humanity. In the pedilavium, the feet were washed in the 'bloody Gore' from Christ's Body, and dried by his 'besweated Hair' (FCD [Fulneck Congregation Diaries] 6 August 1755), in an act of purification before the taking of the Lord's Supper.

2003, Ron Southern, “Strangers Below: An Archaeology of Distinctions in an Eighteenth-century Religious Community”, in Susan Lawrence, editor, Archaeologies of the British: Explorations of Identity in Great Britain and Its Colonies, 1600–1945 (One World Archaeology; 46), Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 95:

On Holy Thursday, Alessandro [de' Medici, Duke of Florence] imitated the innovation of his predecessor, Archbishop Altoviti, who had significantly modified the traditional ritual of the pedilavium acted out in the cathedral. Instead of having canons play the roles of the apostles, Altoviti washed the feet of 12 poveri, and then gave them clothing, bread, and two lire each. Alessandro followed Altoviti's example closely.

2014, Douglas N. Dow, “Alessandro de’ Medici and the Florentine Archdiocese at the End of the Cinquecento”, in Apostolic Iconography and Florentine Confraternities in the Age of Reform (Visual Culture in Early Modernity), Farnham, Surrey, Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing, →ISBN, page 12:

[R]itual practices are not at all limited to demarcated ones, and, in fact, demarcatedness is a matter of degree rather than an absolute value[…]. While we can only speculate about how the scene happened, it is possible that Judas Iscariot's rant took place as Mary was still wiping Jesus' feet with her hair – and, if that was the situation, it is well likely that this was a somewhat ad hoc ritual performance, which was not expected to take place by some, and which was not clearly demarked at that time. […] One could play with the hypothesis that Mary made use of something that was more dynamic and ad hoc at that time than the pedilavia of our day, and so that section of the Bible provides a glimpse into a ritual practice being only at a certain stage of becoming demarcated.

2017, Dániel Kádár, “Ritual: Its Definition, Typology, and Relational Role(s)”, in Politeness, Impoliteness and Ritual: Maintaining the Moral Order in Interpersonal Interaction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 51:

(Christianity) The rite of foot-washing based on the act carried out by Jesus Christ on his disciples at the Last Supper. Depending on the church or denomination, it may be carried out at baptism, during Holy Communion, or as part of a Maundy Thursday service; maundy.


Tlaloc

An important Mexica deity; god of rain, fertility and water.


Abraham's barm

From Middle English Abrahames barme, Habrahammes barm.

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(Christianity, obsolete) Synonym of Abraham's bosom


Vedism

The religious adherence to such teachings.


maghrib

From Arabic مَغْرِب (maḡrib, “west, sunset”), in صَلَاةُ اَلْمَغْرِب (ṣalātu l-maḡrib, “sunset prayer”).


Montfortian

en-adj

Montfortian (comparative more Montfortian, superlative most Montfortian)

more Montfortian (comparative)
most Montfortian (superlative)

Of or relating to Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673–1716), French Roman Catholic priest and confessor.


tetratheism

[…] "consubstantial Trinity" could have been a reaction against the supposed heresy of […] Damian […] who was accused of "tetratheism" (or "tetradism", distinguishing four different entities in the Godhead), a response to, but as it seems a variant of, the very influential "tritheism" of John Philoponus (distinguishing three Deities in the Trinity) […]

2002, Hans Hauben, “On the Invocation of the 'Holy and Consubstantial Trinity' in Byzantine Oath and Dating Formulas”, in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, volume 139, Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, →ISSN, →JSTOR, page 160:

(Christianity) The belief that there are four elements in the Christian Godhead—the three hypostases (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) of the Trinity and a divine essence out of which each of these originates.


NRM

en-noun

NRM (countable and uncountable, plural NRMs)

TM, Erhard Seminars Training (est), and the Rajneesh Foundation are currently the most visible NRMs offering a release service to clients in Western Europe, but a large number of smaller groups are also in operation.

1987, James A. Beckford, New Religious Movements and Rapid Social Change, SAGE Publications Ltd, →ISBN, page 44:

To illustrate rather than to define: among the better-known NRMs are the Brahma Kumaris, the Church of Scientology, the Divine Light Mission (now known as Elan Vital), est (erhard Seminar Training, now known as the Landmark Forum), the Family (originally known as the Children of God), ISKCON (the Hare Krishna), Rajneeshism (now know[n] as Osho International), Sahaja Yoga, the Soka Gakkai, Trandscendental Mediations, the Unification Church (known as the Moonies) and the Way International. One might also include Neo-Paganism, Occultism, Wicca (or witchcraft) and several movements that are within mainstream traditions, such as part of the House Church (Restoration) movement from within Protestant traditions, and Folkolare, the Neo-Catechumenates, Communione e Liberazione and perhaps even Opus Dei from within the Roman Catholic traditions.

1996, Eileen Barker, “New Religions and Mental Health”, in Dinesh Bhugra, editor, Psychiatry and Religion: Context, Consensus and Controversies, London and New York: Routledge, →ISBN, page 126:

The prospect of a new global order is also central to many variants of the Human Potential and New Age movements and Scientology. All these very different kinds of NRM nevertheless share a conviction that human beings have, perhaps for the first time, come into possession of the knowledge required to free them from traditional structures of thought and action. Hence, the confidence of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of Transcendental Meditation, and of Werner Erhard, the founder of est (now largely reconfigured as the Landmark Trust), that the state of the entire world would improve if a sufficient number of people became sufficiently energetic and disciplined about their spiritual practice.

2004, James A. Beckford, “New Religious Movements and Globalization”, in Phillip Charles Lucas, Thomas Robbins, editors, New Religious Movements in the 21st Century, Abingdon and New York: Routledge, →ISBN, page 208:

The majority of NRMs are, however, not indigenous to Europe. Many can be traced to the United States (frequently to California), including offshoots of the Jesus Movement (such as the Children of God, later known as the Family); the Way International; International Churches of Christ; the Church Universal and Triumphant (known as Summit Lighthouse in England); and much of the human potential movement (such as est, which gave rise to the Landmark Forum, and various practices developed through the Esalen Institute).

2005, Eileen Barker, “New Religious Movements in Europe”, in Lindsay Jones, editor, Encyclopedia of Religion, Detroit: Macmillan Reference, →ISBN, page 6568:

Although est and the Forum are frequently characterized as NRMs or 'cults' (q.v.), leaders and participants have typically denied that undergoing the seminars involves following a religion.

2006, George D. Chryssides, The A to Z of New Religious Movements, Scarecrow Press, →ISBN, page 121:

new religious movement
new religious movement#English

(religion) Initialism of new religious movement.


Midewiwin

A secretive religion of the aboriginal groups of the Maritimes, New England and Great Lakes regions in North America.


Balaam

And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 22:28:

Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey. God said, “They summoned you, but you listen to me.” Balaam riding his donkey and his two servants with him, The angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him, The angel with a […]

2017 December 19, LaMar Smith, Poetic Scripture: Genesis to Ruth Stories of the Bible in Poetic Form, WestBow Press, →ISBN, →OCLC:


preterism

(theology) A Christian eschatological view that interprets Biblical prophecies as events which happened in the first century C.E..


Sinaic

en-adj

Sinaic (comparative more Sinaic, superlative most Sinaic)

more Sinaic (comparative)
most Sinaic (superlative)

From Sinae + -ic, q.v., under influence of Judaic, Altaic, etc. and French sinique.

We will separate [the 'Yellow Race'] into three branches—the Hyperborean, the Mongolian, and the Sinaic branches.

1872, Guillaume Louis Figuier, The Human Race, page 205:

(rare, obsolete) Synonym of East Asian, with especial focus on Chinese people and culture: of or related to the Sinosphere.


take vows

en-verb

take vows (third-person singular simple present takes vows, present participle taking vows, simple past took vows, past participle taken vows)

takes vows (present singular third-person)
taking vows (participle present)
took vows (past)
taken vows (participle past)

And this was the hour Brother Jacques had planned and waited for! For this moment he had donned the robes, isolated himself, taken vows, suffered physical tortures!

1903, Harold MacGrath, chapter 34, in The Grey Cloak:

"Even painters ... try to make all women look like some wife or mistress. You are all the same; you never see our real faces. ... I'd rather take vows and veil my face for ever from such abominable eyes."

A cloister is the part of the monastery that only those who have taken vows may enter.

2001 December 30, Michelle O'Donnell, “The Life Serene”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-11-26:

(Christianity) To become an officially inducted member of a religious order, such as an order of priests, nuns, or monks.


Druidism

The religion and philosophical beliefs promoting harmony with nature, and drawing on the practices of the druids.


Nones

From their selection of the option None or None of the above on census returns or other surveys of religious affiliation.

The second is the “Nones” proper, those who in response to the question “What is your religious tradition, if any?” answer “None.” […] Even among the “Nones” only a small minority identify as atheist or agnostic. In fact, the vast majority of “Nones” claim beliefs and attitudes more like than unlike those of persons inside churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques.

2004, Patricia O’Connell Killen, Introduction to Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone, page 17

The mobility of American society has done little or nothing to erode strong regional religious cultures such as those of the Catholics of the Northeast, the Lutherans of the Upper Midwest, the Baptists of the South and the “Nones” of the Pacific Northwest.

2006, Barry A. Kosmin et al., Religion in a Free Market, pages xvi–xvii:

He also found that the sons and daughters of two parents who have no religious preference (Nones) tend to become Nones.

2011, James D. Davidson et al., Ranking Faiths: Religious Stratification in America, page 3:

Suppose that we administered a scale that measures support for capital punishment at the interval-ratio level to a randomly selected sample that includes Protestants, Catholics, Jews, people with no religious affiliation (“Nones”), and people from other religions (“Others”). […] Are Protestants significantly more supportive than Catholics or Jews? How do people with no religious affiliation compare to other people?

2012, Joseph F. Healey, Statistics: A Tool for Social Research, 9th edition, page 242:

For example, in a 2008 report called American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population released by the respected ARIS (American Religious Identification Survey), one reads that “the Nones increased from 8.1 percent of the U.S. adult population in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008 and from 14 to 34 million adults. ...”

2013, J. L. Schellenberg, Evolutionary Religion, page 136:

People with no religious affiliation are outliers, as there is a greater frequency of divorce among Nones married to Nones than Nones married to religious people.

2013, Naomi Schaefer Riley, ‘Til Faith Do Us Part, page 122:

Those without any religious affiliation: atheists and others outside any organized religion.


Quraniyoon

Borrowed from Arabic قُرْآنِيُّونَ (qurʔāniyyūna).

bor+

قُرْآنِيُّونَ

A denomination in Islam that generally rejects the authoritative role of hadiths, and considers the Qur'an to be the only dependable religious text.


Aswayuja

Borrowed from Sanskrit आश्वयुज (āśvayuja).

(Hinduism) The seventh month in the Hindu lunar calendar.


Quranite

An adherent of the Ahle Quran branch of Islam.


Jyeshta

Borrowed from Sanskrit ज्येष्ठ (jyeṣṭha).

(Hinduism) The third month in the Hindu lunar calendar.


Pausha

(Hinduism) The tenth month in the Hindu lunar calendar.


Kartika

(Hinduism) The eighth month in the Hindu lunar calendar.


Aashaadha

Transliteration of Sanskrit आषाढ (āṣāḍha).

transliteration

(Hinduism) The fourth month in the Hindu lunar calendar.


Bhadrapada

(Hinduism, Jainism) The sixth month in the lunar calendar.

ភទ្របទ

phŏəttrĕəʼbɑɑt


Margashirsha

(Hinduism) The ninth month in the Hindu lunar calendar.


Vaisakha

(Hinduism) The second month in the Hindu lunar calendar.


Phalguna

Borrowed from Sanskrit फाल्गुन (phālguna).

bor+

(Hinduism) The twelfth month in the Hindu lunar calendar.


Quranism

اَلْقُرْآنِيَّة

Disbelief in the role of the hadith in Islam


IDiot

Blend of ID (“intelligent design”) + idiot

blend

In his moronic book, _The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions about Intelligent Design_ (2004), 334pp., the IDiot William Dembski writes on page 305 about how a fellow IDiot was fired from a research position at a "prestigious molecular biology laboratory" the very same day a press story appeared exposing this character as being an IDiot.

2004 March 12, David Ford, “Re: How is this for an ID lesson plan?”, in talk.origins (Usenet), message-ID <b1c67abe.0403121312.35d2e0c@posting.google.com>:

Nor does any sane or rational person believe any enzyme fell together all at once purely by chance - that is the domain of creotards, IDiots, and theoloons.

2008 October 17, Prof Weird, “Re: Pretty cool eh?”, in talk.origins (Usenet), message-ID <9f2b4ea1-f138-4ff1-b526-ea6ba94156e4@l64g2000hse.googlegroups.com>:

Thus all sciences, including evolution, are guided by the available objective physical evidence while all creationism regularly rejects any implications of objective physical evidence which does not support their IDiot Bibliolatry.

2012 September 18, Virgil, “Re: Creationists SUICIDAL After Evidence Dumps Them”, in alt.talk.creationism (Usenet), message-ID <virgil-2B02C7.14220718092012@bignews.usenetmonster.com>:

(slang, derogatory) A proponent of intelligent design.


paksha

(Hinduism) A fortnight in a month of the Hindu lunar calendar.


Shraavana

(Hinduism) The fifth month in the Hindu lunar calendar, considered sacred to the god Shiva.


Prathama

(Hinduism) The first day (tithi) in the lunar fortnight (paksha) of the Hindu calendar.


Shashti

From Sanskrit षष्ठी (ṣaṣṭhī, “sixth day in a lunar fortnight”).

uder

(Hinduism) The sixth day (tithi) of the lunar fortnight (paksha) in the Hindu calendar.


Saptami

From Sanskrit सप्तमी (saptamī, “seventh day in a lunar fortnight”).

(Hinduism) The seventh day (tithi) of the fortnight (paksha) in Hindu lunar calendar.


Panchami

From Sanskrit पञ्चमी (pañcamī, “fifth day in a lunar fortnight”).

(Hinduism) The fifth day (tithi) of the lunar fortnight (paksha) in the Hindu calendar.


Dwitiya

Borrowed from Sanskrit द्वितीय (dvitī́ya, “second”).

(Hinduism) The second day (tithi) in the lunar fortnight (paksha) of the Hindu calendar.


Tritiya

(Hinduism) The third day (tithi) in the lunar fortnight (paksha) of the Hindu calendar.


Chaitra

(Hinduism) The first month of the Hindu lunar calendar.


Chaturthi

From Sanskrit चतुर्थी (caturthī, “fourth day in a lunar fortnight”).

bor

(Hinduism) The fourth day (tithi) of the lunar fortnight (paksha) in the Hindu calendar.


Dashami

From Sanskrit दशमी (daśamī, “tenth day in a lunar fortnight”).

(Hinduism) The tenth day (tithi) in the lunar fortnight (paksha) of the Hindu calendar.


Dwadashi

From Sanskrit द्वादशी (dvādaśī, “twelfth day in a lunar fortnight”).

(Hinduism) The twelfth lunar day (tithi) of the fortnight (paksha) of every month in the Hindu calendar.


Thrayodashi

From Sanskrit त्रयोदशी (trayodaśī, “thirteenth day in a lunar fortnight”).

uder

(Hinduism) The thirteenth day (tithi) in the lunar fortnight (paksha) of the Hindu calendar.


Ashtami

From Sanskrit अष्टमी (aṣṭamī, “eighth day in a lunar fortnight”).

bor

(Hinduism) The eighth day (tithi) in the fortnight (paksha) of the Hindu lunar calendar.


Ahmadiyya

From Arabic أَحْمَدِيَّة (ʔaḥmadiyya), after Ahmad, another name of Muhammad in the Quran.

أَحْمَدِيَّة

Allegedly an Islamic denomination, considered by some to be a separate religion, founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, who is considered to be the Mahdi.

阿赫邁底亞

member of Islamic denomination founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmed


Vijayadashami

Borrowed from Sanskrit विजयादशमी (vijayādaśamī), from विजय (vijaya) + दशमी (daśamī, “tenth”).

(Hinduism) A Hindu festival marking the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura.


Navami

From Sanskrit नवमी (navamī, “ninth day in a lunar fortnight”).

uder

(Hinduism) The ninth day (tithi) of the fortnight (paksha) in the Hindu lunar calendar.


Ekadashi

From Sanskrit एकादशी (ekādaśī, “eleventh day in a lunar fortnight”).

bor

(Hinduism) The eleventh day (tithi) of the lunar fortnight (paksha) of every lunar month in the Hindu calendar.


Jagannath

From Sanskrit जगन्नाथ (jagannātha). Doublet of juggernaut.

A male given name from Sanskrit used commonly in India.


Purnima

From Sanskrit पूर्णिमा (pūrṇimā, “full moon night”).

uder

(Hinduism) The full moon. The day (tithi) in each month in which the full moon occurs, and marks the division in each month between the two lunar fortnight in Hindu calendar.


Chaturdashi

From Sanskrit चतुर्दशी (caturdaśī, “fourteenth day in a lunar fortnight”).

(Hinduism) The fourteenth day (tithi) of the lunar fortnight (paksha) in the Hindu calendar.


Amavasya

From Sanskrit अमावस्या (amāvasyā, “day of the new moon”).

der

(Hinduism) A new moon in the Hindu calendar.


Magha

In the month of Magha, a vessel laid anchor in the harbour of this town.

2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 1

(Hinduism) A month of the Hindu calendar, corresponding with the Gregorian January/February.


Gomarist

(historical, Protestantism) A follower of Franciscus Gomarus, a 17th-century Dutch Calvinist who strongly opposed the Arminians; an adherent of orthodox Reformed soteriology in the Arminian controversy.


Kutub al-Sittah

Borrowed from Arabic الكُتُب السِّتَّة (al-kutub as-sitta, “the six books”).

bor

الكُتُب السِّتَّة

(Islam) The group of six collections of hadiths (sayings or acts of Muhammad) which form part of the official canon of Sunni Islam.


Ibadi

Borrowed from Arabic إِبَاضِيّ (ʔibāḍiyy), from إِبَاض (ʔibāḍ, part of the name of Abd Allah ibn Ibad) + ـِيّ (-iyy). By surface analysis, Ibad + -i.


paticcasamuppāda

/pətɪt͡ʃːəsəmʊpːaːdə/

(Theravada Buddhism) Alternative spelling of pratītyasamutpāda


vanaprastha

‘We should adopt Vanaprastha even while remaining householders. The responsibilities of being a householder should now be passed on to the children,’ she said.

2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 263

(Hinduism) The third of four ashrama (stages) in a human life, characterised by a gradual transition of one's social and economic responsibilities to the next generation, and a move away from worldly and sexual pursuits to more spiritual concerns.


ashrama

Transliteration of Sanskrit आश्रम (āśrama, “hermitage”).

translit

(Hinduism) Any of the four stages of Hindu spiritual life.

ashrama

any of the four stages of Hindu spiritual life


Sunnism

In this country, Sunnism forms the majority.


pratītyasamutpāda

Unadapted borrowing from Sanskrit प्रतीत्यसमुत्पाद (pratītyasamutpāda, “dependent origination”), from प्रतीत्य (pratītya, “dependence”) + समुत्पाद (samutpāda, “arising”).

ubor

प्रतीत्यसमुत्पाद

paticcasamuppāda

In Pali, the lingua franca of the Theravada tradition

(chiefly Mahayana Buddhism) The principle that everything is interdependent, that all things arise in dependence upon multiple causes and conditions.

(chiefly Theravada Buddhism) The Twelve Nidānas.


Judge

Wak’d by the trumpet’s sound,
I from my grave must rise,
And see the Judge with glory crown’d,
And see the flaming skies.

1763, Charles Wesley, “And am I Born to Die?” (Hymn 59) in Hymns for Children, and Others of Riper Years

(Christianity) epithet of God or Jesus in his role as supreme arbiter

An unincorporated community in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, named after Edward Judge.


Abstinent

From Middle English abstinent (adjective form).

(Christianity, historical) One of a Christian sect that appeared in France and Spain in the 3rd century, and practised abstinence from meat and sex.


Twelfth Night

Twelfe Night, Or vvhat you vvill. [title of play]

c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, page 255:

Christmas goes out in fine style,—with Twelfth Night. It is a finish worthy of the time. Christmas Day was the morning of the season; New Year's Day the middle of it, or noon; Twelfth Night is the night, brilliant with innumerable planets of Twelfth-cakes. […] May a pleasant Twelfth Night have we passed in our time; and such future Twelfth Nights as may remain to us shall be pleasant, God and good-will permitting: for even if care should be round about them, we have no notion of missing these mountain-tops of rest and brightness, on which people may refresh themselves during the stormiest parts of life's voyage.

1840, Leigh Hunt, “XLVIII.—Twelfth Night. A Street Portrait. Shakespeare's Play, Recollections of a Twelfth Night.”, in The Seer; or, Common-places Refreshed. By Leigh Hunt. In Two Parts, volume I, London: Edward Moxon, Dover Street, →OCLC, pages 31–32:

Twelfth-Night, so called from its being the conclusion of the twelve days of Christmas, is one of the Christian versions of those natural winter holidays, which have prevailed from times the most ancient, and which are the instinctive result of the necessity which is felt for a double portion of joy and sociality at so inclement a time. […] [T]he imagination which books and Twelfth-Nights have helped to cultivate, is a great paymaster. We sit here, by our fire-side, and think of all the nights of this description which we have enjoyed; and very young and robust are we, while so thinking.

1854 January 1, Leigh Hunt, “Twelfth Night”, in The Musical Times, and Singing Class Circular, volume V, number 116, London: London Sacred Music Warehouse, J[oseph] Alfred Novello, music seller […], →OCLC, pages 314–315:

We even discover in the Saturnalia of the Romans, revels which are almost identical with those of Twelfth Night. It is to be regretted, my dear, that we should be so neglectful of the celebration of this day. As a holiday, it is scarcely remembered among us [in the United States], though in England it is still carefully observed, and the pastry-cooks' shops on this night are crowded with cakes, ornamented with many quaint and dainty devices. The Twelfth Night cake is an institution, which, even in this country, should not be allowed to crumble to pieces.

1872, Barry Gray, Cakes and Ale at Woodbine; from Twelfth Night to New Year's Day, New York, N.Y., Cambridge, Mass.: Hurd and Houghton; The Riverside Press, →OCLC, page 8:

Alton has two Twelfth Night festivals, one in the Christian Hill district's Riverview Park and the other in the Middletown area's Haskell Park. The Christmas trees of neighborhood residents are piled high and then ignited – under the watchful eye of the Alton Fire Department, of course. Why burn Christmas trees on Twelfth Night? The most popular explanation is that the blaze of burning evergreens symbolizes the star that guided the wise men to Jesus. […] The tradition continued for a few more Twelfth Nights but, without its founder's participation, gradually lost popularity and was discontinued. It was reestablished in 1980 and enjoys an even greater level of popularity […]

2010, John J. Dunphy, From Christmas to Twelfth Night in Southern Illinois, Charleston, S.C.: The History Press, →ISBN, pages 128 and 130:

Twelve Days of Christmas
Twelve Days of Christmas

A Christian festival marking the coming of Epiphany and concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas, traditionally falling on the evening of January 5 (i.e., on the eve of Twelfth Day, January 6), but also sometimes defined as falling on the evening of January 6 (i.e., on the evening of Twelfth Day itself).


Venkateswara

Borrowed from Sanskrit वेङ्कटेश्वर (veṅkaṭeśvara).

(Hinduism) The lord of seven hills, abode of Tirumala.


Narasimha

(Hinduism) An avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu literally means man-lion.


Karna

Transliteration of Sanskrit कर्ण (karṇa).

translit

(Hinduism) Name of a warrior who fought for the Kauravas in the Mahabharata; son of Kunti and Surya.


Nārada

Transliteration of Sanskrit नारद (nārada).

(Hinduism) A divine sage who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana.


Nārada

Transliteration of Sanskrit नारद (nārada) or Pali Nārada.

(Buddhism) The name of the 12th of 27 named Buddhas immediately preceding Gautama.


Temple

(Judaism, Christianity, historical) Any of the former chief temples to YHWH in Jerusalem, particularly Solomon's Temple.


Kroni

Ayyavazhi (an offshoot of Hinduism) followers, however, believed in a devil–like figure called Kroni, who was the primordial manifestation of evil and appears in various forms of evil, e.g. Ravana, Dury-odhana, etc.

2012, Nwaocha Ogechukwu Friday, The Devil: What Does He Look Like?, →ISBN, page 43:

(religion, Hinduism, Ayyavazhi) The primordial manifestation of evil in Ayyavazhi mythology.


sharia law

en-noun

sharia law (countable and uncountable, plural sharia laws)

(countable, Islam) Any of the laws in this system.


Putrakameshti

From Sanskrit पुत्र (putra) + Telugu కామేష్టి (kāmēṣṭi).

der

Telugu కామేష్టి (kāmēṣṭi)

(Hinduism) A special Yajna performed in Hinduism for the sake of having a child.


BAS

Book of Alternative Services
w:Book of Alternative Services

(Anglicanism) Initialism of Book of Alternative Services.


witherwin

/ˈwɪðə(ɹ)ˌwɪn/

From Middle English wiþerwine, witherwin, from Old English wiþerwinna (“opponent, rival, adversary, enemy”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiþrawinnō, equivalent to wither- (“against”) + win (“to struggle”). Cognate with Old High German widarwinno, Middle High German widerwinne.

prefix

Jamie Radtke, the first to make opening statements, emerged from her podium immediately as an aggressor against George Allen–her intraparty arch-nemesis–repeating amidst his own supporters her oft-made attacks against Allen’s public record. She was not as demure as she was in Roanoke; she seemed at the beginning rather like she felt more comfortable in the oceanic atmosphere harpooning her opponent. Indeed, at times, it seemed she was Ahab and the witherwin Allen was her Moby Dick; but while she sails her Pequod just as intently toward a singular goal, her alastor is much less clear and she bears no visible scars of a cetacean attacker.

2012, Hampton Roads Republican US Senate Debate Summary:

"Why did they arrest Commander Hauk?” “I'm not at liberty to discuss that with witherwins.” “Witherwins?” “Non-Tavali.”

2015, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Born of Betrayal:

Of the two, the hyrn is mostly likely to befuddle our widderwins since, as it turns out, winkel is also the German word for a corner which might be known by some.

2015, LT Wolf, The World King - Book I: The Reckoning:

(rare, dialect or archaic) An opponent; rival; adversary; enemy; (Christianity) the Adversary; the Devil.


Aqdas

Derived from Classical Persian کِتَابِ اَقْدَس (kitāb-i aqdas, literally “the holiest book”), from Arabic كِتاب (kitāb, “book”) + أَقْدَس (ʔaqdas, “holiest, exceedingly holy”), the latter word being elative of قِدِّيس (qiddīs) or قُدُّوس (quddūs), both “holy”.

der

کِتَابِ اَقْدَس

der+

کِتَابِ اَقْدَس

The central holy book in the Baháʼí Faith.


Hiranyagarbha

From Sanskrit हिरण्य (hiraṇya, “gold”) + गर्भ (garbha, “child, offspring”).

(Hinduism) A name of Brahma, so called because he was born from a golden egg (Manu Smṛti 1.9).


Valmiki

The poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature and the author of the epic Ramayana.


agnihotra

From Sanskrit अग्नि (agni, “Agni”) + होत्र (hotra, “sacrifice, burnt offering”).

compound

(Hinduism) A Vedic yajña (ritual or sacrifice) mentioned in the Atharvaveda and performed in orthodox Hindu communities.


Amaravati

(Hinduism) The capital of Hindu lord Indra.


Aditi

From Sanskrit अदिति (aditi, “having nothing to give”); ultimately from अ- (a-) + दिति (diti).

bor

(Hinduism) The daughter of Daksha, wife of Kashyapa, and mother of the gods.


ahamkara

en-noun

ahamkara (countable and uncountable, plural ahamkaras)

Borrowed from Sanskrit अहंकार (ahaṃkāra).


jyotirlinga

Borrowed from Sanskrit ज्योतिर्लिङ्ग (jyotirliṅga).

bor+

ज्योतिर्लिङ्ग

One of Shiva's revered Jyotirlingas is protected within the inner sanctum of the city's Kashi Vishwanath temple. It is one of the more famous lingas in the country.

2023, Radhika Iyengar, Fire on the Ganges, Fourth Estate, page 13:

(Hinduism) A shrine where Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlingam or "Lingam (pillar) of light."


Rati

(Hinduism) The Hindu goddess of love, passion and sexual pleasure.


Aether

From Ancient Greek αἰθήρ (aithḗr, “upper air”). Doublet of Ether.

der

(Greek mythology) One of the Greek primordial deities who was the personification of light, brother-husband of Hemera and grandson of Chaos.


Sankranti

There are 12 Sankrantis in a year.

(Hinduism, astronomy) The transmigration of the Sun from one Rāshi (constellation of the zodiac) to the next.


ghostlore

From ghost + lore (“learning, knowledge”).

Three other sections of the state are important in this connection: the Adirondack Mountains and parts of the Catskills, which while sparsely settled and only slightly represented in this collection, have much good ghostlore yet to be collected.

1982, Louis Clark Jones, Three Eyes on the Past:

When one person tells another of a frightening experience, he is passing on ghostlore.

1995, Charles Edwin Price, Haunted Tennessee:

From ruthless gangsters to restless mail order kings, from the Fort Dearborn Massacre to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, the phantom remains of the passionate people and volatile events of Chicago history have made the Second City second to none in the annals of American ghostlore.

2004, Ted Okuda, Jack Mulqueen, The Golden Age of Chicago Children's Television:

Ghost stories and tales of railroad heroics and tragedy may have mixed to create this unique type of ghostlore.

2019, Matthew L. Swayne, Haunted Rails: Tales of Ghost Trains, Phantom Conductors, and Other Railroad Spirits, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN:


heavenly stem

One of the ten terms used in East Asian cultures to represent

(historical religion) The ancestor venerated with a ritual on the appointed day of the traditional week.


Qurbana

Borrowed from Classical Syriac ܩܘܪܒܢܐ. Doublet of corban.

The Eucharistic service in Syrian Christianity.


high angel

From Middle English heh-engel, from Old English hēahengel (“archangel”).

And blessed art thou that diddest believe. For all things that have been spoken to thee from our Lord shall be performed. Second, that the angel Gabriel, which spake to the virgin, was an high angel, and an high messenger.

1856, Charles Lloyd, Formularies of Faith Put Forth by Authority During the Reign of Henry VIII:

In that night his Excellency also met the Taker-away-of-life ; and he begged of that high angel, "When thou takest away the souls of my people, do so easily, kindly, and gently."

1889, Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle, Mohammed and Mohammedanism:

Nor, again, would anybody guess, without previous knowledge or elucidation, that a highwayman was a kind of robber, a high-head a kind of coiffare, a high-low a kind of boot, a high-man a kind of loaded die, or that, when our ancestors spoke of a high-father, a high-angel, and a high-bishop, they meant a patriarch, an archangel, and an archbishop respectively.

1889, Proceedings of the Liverpool Literary & Philosophical Society - Volumes 43-44 - Page 172

Such a man continues to progress in this state till an imperceptible [tru]th opens between his mind and the minds of the seraphic order of high angels.

1965, The Islamic literature - Volume 11 - Page 31

Many foretell Michael's tide far and wide five nights on past the equinox when earls and ceorls keep harvest time with the high angel's feast remembered together throughout the land.

2003, Cyril Roy Hart, Learning and culture in late Anglo-Saxon England and the influence of Ramsey Abbey on the major English monastic schools:

Vohumano came to be considered, first as one of the highangels attendant on him, and then formally as one of his six councillors.

2004, George Rawlinson, The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World:

The high angel, Michael, flanked by the two commanders, continued his relentless attack bearing grimly and deliberately down upon the two dark leaders, Python and Jezebel.

2008, Miriam E. Bellamy, Demons in the Sanctuary:

As Sagittarius examined the pictures, the writer told of meeting both a High Angel, one named Tyrrell, and an Arch Demon, a Seraph, one of the four Seraphim who fell in the rebellion. Sag thought about the matter. A third of Heaven.

2008, Merrll O'Brian, 665 the Council Of: (Part One) - Page 241:

So to Keil and a host of others he is the preincarnate Christ, while Michael is a high angel.

2010, Merrill C. Tenney, The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 4:


doctrine of necessity

duress of circumstances

principle of preservation of greater utilitarian value

In examining the doctrine of necessity, I shall endeavour to bring what I have to say about the subject into as narrow a compass as possible, and for that purpose the following axioms are premised; as in all sciences, some principles must be taken for granted, else nothing can be proved.

1803, John Dawson, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Briefly Invalidated, page 7:

(philosophy, metaphysics, theology) Necessarianism, especially as espoused by Joseph Priestley.


Hemera

(Greek mythology) The personification and elemental goddess of the day. Her husband is Aether.


Sethian

A member of an ancient Christian Gnostic sect who venerated the Biblical Seth, third son of Adam and Eve, depicted in their creation myths as a divine incarnation.


Blitzen

First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. Named from Dutch bliksem (“lightning”), and perhaps influenced by the German form Blitz.

The eighth and last reindeer of Santa Claus.

A Visit from St. Nicholas
Santa Claus's reindeer


laying on of hands

en-noun

laying on of hands (plural layings on of hands)

And when Simon ſaw that through laying on of the Apoſtles hands', the holy Ghoſt was giuen, hee offered them money,[…]

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 8:18, column 1:

He holds daily levees, which are crowded, at Metropolitan Hall, where he proclaims that he has been sent of God to heal diseases by the touch. Many are fools enough to try the experiment . . . . His formula is, "Disease, depart," accompanied with a laying on of hands.

1865 April 2, “From the West”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-01-25:

They cast out devils by magic charms, cured diseases by the laying on of hands, drank deadly poisons unharmed, and unharmed played with deadly snakes—or so they claimed.

1915, Jack London, The Jacket (The Star-Rover), ch. 17

This monstrous parody of divine compassion . . . performs, in the presence of moving picture cameras, a grotesque parody upon the laying on of hands and the healing of the sick.

1922, Upton Sinclair, chapter 35, in They Call Me Carpenter: A Tale of the Second Coming:

Popoff would race around an auditorium, striding up to dozens of people he had never met, greeting them by name, reciting their addresses, diagnosing their illnesses and then pretending to heal them with a laying on of hands.

2001 June 24, Leon Jaroff, “Fighting Against Flimflam”, in Time:

(religion, chiefly Christianity) The practice of using touch to communicate spiritual energy from one person to another, especially as an act of healing.

handoplegging

apostolic succession
apostolic succession

(Christianity) The charism whereby new bishops are initiated into the apostolic succession.


broom closet

By analogy with closet, and due to the association of witchcraft with brooms.

(figuratively, often humorous) The metaphorical place in which a Wiccan's religious identity is hidden.


Pax

(Greek mythology) The goddess/personification of peace and one of the Horae. She is a daughter of Zeus and Themis, and her sisters are Justitia and Eunomia. She is the Roman counterpart of Eirene.


Macaria

From Ancient Greek Μακαρία (Makaría, literally “she who is blessed”).

bor

(Greek mythology) The goddess of the blessed dead, who go to the Elysian Fields.


Islamically

en-adv

Islamically (comparative more Islamically, superlative most Islamically)

more Islamically (comparative)
most Islamically (superlative)

Another financial issue attracting growing attention is whether capital gains on investments are Islamically acceptable.

1999, Jane I. Smith, Islam in America, page 135:

M&S said they will not label any of their Islamically slaughtered lamb as halal.

2010, Abul Taher, “Waitrose forced to ditch halal lamb from Prince of Wales' Duchy range”, in The Daily Mail:

In an Islamic manner; in a manner relating to, or comporting with, Islam.


psychagogy

In the Christian type of psychagogy we will see that although it is true that the person who provides spiritual direction must obey a number of rules, and that he has a number of responsibilities and obligations, the most fundamental and essential cost of the truth and of "truth-telling" will be borne by the person whose soul has to be guided.

1981-1982, Michel Foucault, The Hermeneutics of the Subject: Lectures at the Collège de France 1981--1982, published 2005:

An even more resounding echo of Plato's Gordias can be heard in this passage: the connection between psychagogy and pedagogy.

2006, James N. Comas, Between Politics and Ethics: Toward a Vocative History of English Studies, page 112:

Emphasis falls on the correction of error and participation in mutual psychagogy. This emphasis on reciprocal correction in friendship is congruent with the ideal of friendship of many and runs counter to the common saying that one should judge a person's character before friendship is proffered.

1996, John T. Fitzgeraldn, editor, Friendship, Flattery, and Frankness of Speech: Studies on Friendship in the New Testament World:

(religion, philosophy) Guidance of the soul.


Mania

From Latin Mania, related to manes (“spirits of the dead”).

(Roman mythology) The goddess of the dead and ghosts.


wabi

A lamp here, table, bookcase, print on the wall. The incredible Japanese sense of wabi.

1962, Philip K. Dick, “The Man in the High Castle”, in Four Novels of the 1960s, Library of America, published 2007, page 94:

One of these changes would be the further refinement of the concept of wabi as an aesthetic ideal, and that was to be the work of Takeno Jōō, under whom the Way of Tea would mature.

1998, Sen Sōshitsu XV, translated by V. Dixon Morris, The Japanese Way of Tea, page 146:

(Zen Buddhism) A quality of simple or solitary beauty, especially as expressed in various forms of Japanese art or culture.


Acephalite

Borrowed from Late Latin acephalus + -ite, from Ancient Greek ἀκέφαλος (aképhalos, “headless”), apparently referring to the movement’s refusal to accept the decisions of church councils.

der

[…] nor does he charge Beatus or Heterius (that wild ass) with being a Eutychian, or a follower of Eutyches, or acephalite, or any other term recalling the monophysitism of the fifth century or its descendants.

1993, John C. Cavadini, The Last Christology of the West: Adoptionism in Spain and Gaul, 785-820, →ISBN, page 43:

The Greater Chronicle […] makes it clear that the roots of the Acefali lay in their failure to accept the Three Chapters of Chalcedon […] the Lesser Chronicle, 39, states simply that ‘The heresy of the Acephalites arose’ (my translation).

2012, Jamie Wood, The Politics of Identity in Visigothic Spain: Religion and Power in the Histories of Isidore of Seville, →ISBN, page 212:

Eutyches, who taught the opposite: that just there is one person so the natures are one in Christ, by confusing and intermingling the two natures. So too for that whole breed of Eutyches, the Monophysites, Monothelites, and Acephalites.

2016, Riemer Faber, transl., Synopsis Purioris Theologiae, →ISBN, page 97:

(historical, uncommon) A radical Monophysite in the era after the Council of Chalcedon (451 CE).


kagura

From Japanese 神楽 (kagura, literally “god music”). See more at the Japanese entry.

bor

A kind of Shinto theatrical dance in Japan.


open table

(religion) The practice of some Protestant churches to allow all people to take Communion, regardless of being members of the church or not.


Ananta

From Sanskrit अनन्त (ananta, “endless”).

(Hinduism) One of the names of Lord Vishnu.

In the Mahabharata, the serpent, or Vasuki, is the son of Kasyapa, through Kadru as her eldest son.

A male given name from Sanskrit, commonly used in India.


Iacchus

(Greek mythology) A minor deity of some cultic importance, particularly at Athens and Eleusis in connection with the Eleusinian mysteries.


Celestine

(Roman Catholicism) A member of a Roman Catholic monastic order, a branch of the Benedictines, founded in 1244.


Lasallian

en-adj

Lasallian (comparative more Lasallian, superlative most Lasallian)

more Lasallian (comparative)
most Lasallian (superlative)

Lasallian
Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle

From La Salle + -ian, after the founder, Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle.

Of or relating to the De La Salle Brothers, formerly named The Brothers of the Christian Schools, a Roman Catholic religious teaching congregation.


adhyasa

(Hinduism) The human habit of superimposition, or false attribution of properties of one thing on another thing.


defenced

defenced (comparative more defenced, superlative most defenced)

more defenced (comparative)
most defenced (superlative)

But if any proper burning of the Sunne should be vnderstood, how isit, that it afflicteth the wicked more thế the good, whereas both of them dwell mingled together vppon the earth and the one of them is not more defenced frố the force of the heauenly bodies, then the other.

1616, Thomas Brightman, The Reuelation of St Iohn, page 680:

Human invention
 Could not instruct me to dispose her where
 She could be more defenced from all men's eyes;
 An anchorite lives not prisoned in a wall
 With more security.

1633, James Shirley, The Bird in a Cage:

Comparison of the condition to which the defenced city is to be reduced, to a wilderness.

1854 July, “A Designation and Exposition of the Figures in Isaiah”, in The Theological and Literary Journal, volume 7, number 1, page 150:

The reason why they are a defenced city during the time of their taking root, just like today, is because they are in their land, but not in their land undere the blessing of the old covenant. Once they are in their land undere the old covenant, because God purged them, they will not need a defense. Because the Lord is their defense. Today, Israel is a defenced city with walls as they are taking root.

2010, Clair L. Hassell, Jonathan C. Hassell, Will the Red Sea Part Again, page 92:

(archaic, biblical) Having defenses; defended.


triregnum

en-noun

triregnum (plural triregnums or triregna)

The three-tiered triple crown worn by popes.


camauro

A cap, of crimson velvet, trimmed with ermine, worn by the pope.


protodeacon

In the Catholic Church, most senior Cardinal, in charge of presenting the newly elected Pope by saying habemus papam.


habemus papam

From Latin habēmus (“we have”) + papam (“a pope”).

A short, formulaic speech in Latin that announces the identity of a newly elected pope.


mantum

Learned borrowing from Latin mantum. Doublet of manto.

The mantle worn by the pope, which is very similar to a cope, but longer and fastened in the front by an elaborate morse.


stauropegic

(of an Eastern Orthodoxy or Eastern Catholicism monastery) Stauropegial.


akashvani

Borrowed from Sanskrit आकाशवाणी (ākāśavāṇī, “celestial announcement from the sky, or voice from the sky/heaven”); probably through Hindi आकाशवाणी (ākāśvāṇī) or another Indic language with schwa deletion.

bor

Hindi आकाशवाणी (ākāśvāṇī)

In Hindu, Jain and Buddhist mythology, akashvanis often featured in stories as a medium of communication from the heavens to mankind.

(Hinduism, mythology) A gift or message from heaven.

Akashvani (term)
Schwa deletion in Indo-Aryan languages


stauropegial

From Byzantine Greek σταυροπηγία (stauropēgía), from σταυρός (staurós, “cross”) (Greek σταυρός (stavrós)) + πήγνυμι (pḗgnumi, “secure, fix, fasten”).

uder

(of an Eastern Orthodoxy or an Eastern Catholic monastery, church or brotherhood) Subordinated directly to the primate of the church (e.g. the patriarch) or the synod rather than to a local bishop.


Vodouisant

Vodouisants believe that if the lwa are pleased with your actions, they will reward you with health, financial success, and all-around good luck.

2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books, page 5:


voodoo doll

From a mistaken belief that the use of such effigies features in the voodoo religion of either Haiti or Louisiana.

A poppet; a doll made to resemble a person in order to cast spells on them or to galvanize some change in them by modifying the doll, often by inserting pins and needles or by binding it.

ninot de vudú

doll fashioned to resemble a person for usually malicious magical intent


lechi

From Hebrew לֶחִי (léḥi, “stake fastened in the ground”, literally “jawbone”).

bor

(Judaism) A pole used in demarcating an eruv.


Guebre

Borrowed from French guèbre, from Ottoman Turkish گبر (gebr), from Persian گبر (gabr).


Bogomilism

The beliefs and practices of the Bogomils.


Bogomil

From the name of the priest Bogomil, who supposedly founded the sect, literally meaning "dear to God", from bog (“god”) (compare Proto-Slavic *bogъ) and mil (“dear”) (compare Proto-Slavic *milъ).

(Christianity, historical) A member of a dualist Christian sect which flourished in the Balkans during the 10th to 15th centuries and was characterized by resistance to the state and church authorities.


Bethlehemite

Faris, the only Bethlehemite in the cast, was striding along with a tour-guide air, visibly pleased to have us on his turf.

2023, Isabella Hammad, Enter Ghost, Jonathan Cape, page 218:

(historical) Member of an extinct English order of friars.


book of hours

From the books' usual division of prayers according to the canonical hours.

(Christianity, chiefly historical) An illuminated Catholic devotional book, popular in the Middle Ages.

llibre d'hores

illuminated devotional book from the Middle Ages

(Christianity) Synonym of horologion, the equivalent of the breviary in Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism.


co-religionary

A co-religionist, a fellow follower of one's religion.


korban

Ultimately from Arabic قُرْبَان (qurbān), probably through Malay korban. Doublet of corban and Qurbana.

To explore alternative sources, a korban review committee was formed last December with officials from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore[…].

2013 October 16, Melody Zaccheus, “Muslims mark Hari Raya Haji with prayer, korban”, in The Straits Times:

[…]on Hari Raya Haji, a “Korban” (sacrifice) is performed, where live sheep, lambs and other livestock are slaughtered as prayers are recited.

2020 May 15, Pinky Chng, “What's the difference between Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji?”, in AsiaOne:

(Islam) a ritual sacrifice of a livestock animal at Eid ul-Adha


dawah

From Arabic دَعْوَة (daʕwa, “call to action; invitation”).

der

(Islam) Islamic proselytism, particularly through preaching


Amun

From Coptic ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ (amoun), from Egyptian jmn (“the god Amun”). The variant forms Ammon and Amon are from Ancient Greek Ἄμμων (Ámmōn), from the same Egyptian source. The variant Amen is from Ȧmen, Lepsius’s obsolete 19th century transcription of the original Egyptian word.

The hornèd patriarch of the sheep,
 Like Egypt's Amun roused from sleep,
 Shook his sage head with gesture mute,
 And emphasized with stamp of foot.

1866, John G. Whittier, Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl:

(Egyptian mythology) An Egyptian wind deity associated with the town of Thebes; later (post-16th century BCE) the creator deity, often depicted with curling ram horns.


Boko Haram

From Hausa boko (“fake, often said of Western education”) + haram (“forbidden”) (from Arabic حَرَام (ḥarām). Literally "Western education is forbidden".


kolovrat

Ultimately from Proto-Slavic *kolovortъ. In historical records, similar symbols were recorded as ладинец (ladinec) in Russian or słoneczko in Polish.
This spelling was influenced by Russian коловра́т (kolovrát), the more well-known form of the symbol invented by the neo-pagan leader Alexey Dobrovolsky in the 1990s.

In contrast, Krasnodar respondents were keen to differentiate between the kolovrat and the swastika, while recognizing the symbolic connections between them: […]

2009, George McKay, Michael Goddard, Christopher Williams, Neil Foxlee, editors, Subcultures and New Religious Movements in Russia and East-Central Europe, Peter Lang, →ISBN, page 284:

(paganism, politics, fascism, nationalism) An eight-spoked swastika used by Slavic neopagan, fascist, and nationalist groups.


dhuhr

From Arabic ظُهْر (ẓuhr, “noon”), in صَلَاة اَلظُّهْر (ṣalāt aẓ-ẓuhr, “noon prayer”).

Each afternoon – immediately following the dhuhur or midday prayers – he was summoned to Fatima's tent for a question-and-answer period.

1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 55:

It is 1999 and I am told that, as an employee of the nation of Islam, one of my duties is to supervise the female students of the college while they participate in Dhuhr.

2010, Kylie Sturgess, The Lay Scientist, The Guardian (online), 10 Nov 2010


Light

English surname, from both senses of light.

(Islam) The 24th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.


Malebolge

Unadapted borrowing from Italian Malebolge (literally “Evil Ditches”). See bolgia.

unadapted borrowing

The eighth circle of Hell in the Divine Comedy.


5 percenter

The term refers to the movement's belief that only five percent of all people understand God and consider the Black man as superior to all, leaving eighty-five percent as slaves to a ten-percent elite conspiracy that rules the world.

Trying to find the meaning of life in a Corona / 'Til the Five Percenters rolled up on a nigga and informed him: / "You either build or destroy, where you come from?"

2009, “Exhibit C”, in Victory, performed by Jay Electronica:

A member of the Five-Percent Nation, a cultural movement influenced by Islam, founded in 1964 in New York City.


fire temple

A Zoroastrian place of worship, where fire is kindled.


Adi Granth

Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib#English

Adi Granth

the main religious text of Sikhism — see also Guru Granth Sahib


Tripitaka

Borrowed from Sanskrit त्रिपिटक (tripiṭaka, “Three Baskets”). Compare Pali tipiṭaka (“Three Baskets”).

bor

(Buddhism) Any of several canons of Buddhist scripture.

ত্রিপিটক

any of several canons of Buddhist scripture


rock slam

(Scientology) An erratic slashing motion of an E-meter's needle, supposed to indicate evil intentions in the subject.


Bennu

Borrowing from Egyptian bnw. Doublet of phoenix.

1830, "E. H.", Fragments on Egyptian Literature, Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and the Arts, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, page 349,
One compound name, of which it is an element, is that of the city, from which the Sebennytic mouth of the Nile was denominated Sebennu, that is, "the temple of Bennu," a god, who was represented in the form of a waterfowl, and whose phonetic name is of frequent occurrence.

2014, J. Daniel Gunther, The Angel & The Abyss, Nicolas-Hays, Inc. (Ibis Press), page 113,
15 The Uas Sceptre is the origin of the “Phoenix Wand”, which is the Wand of the Imperator of A!∴!A!∴,. The head of the wand was not originally a Bennu Bird, but the head of the god Set. The identification with the Bennu seems to have originated with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

(Egyptian mythology, often with "the") A self-created deity with the form of a bird (in New Kingdom artwork, a heron) that features in the ancient Egyptian creation myth and is also described as the ba (soul) of Ra.