Shuka

(Hinduism) The son of the sage Vyasa (credited as the organizer of the Vedas and Puranas) and the main narrator of the Bhagavata Purana.


nyabinghi

From Nyabinghi, the name of a legendary Ugandan/Rwandan tribe queen.

(Rastafari, music) A style of music and a rhythm originally associated with the Nyabinghi sect of Rastafarians, but now more generally known as a component of reggae, especially roots reggae.


gospellike

en-adj

gospellike (comparative more gospellike, superlative most gospellike)

more gospellike (comparative)
most gospellike (superlative)

(Christianity) Like a proper Christian; according to the gospel.


Nyabinghi

Most likely from a Great Lakes Bantu language. Compare Tooro -nya- (“pertaining to”) and ingi (“rich in; plentiful in”). The spelling with -gh- may reflect an early spelling of /ŋɡ/ to distinguish it from the simple /ŋ/.

(Rastafari, religion) A religious sect of the Rastafarian religion.

the Rastas wanted cannabis legalised, and a reserved plot on the land out back for their Nyabinghi gatherings

2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, Penguin Books (2020), page 18:

(Rastafari) A ceremony associated with the Nyabinghi.


Nyabinghi

(Rastafari, music) A style of music and a rhythm associated with the sect and ceremony, and with reggae music.


Chakrapani

Transliteration of Sanskrit चक्रपाणि (cakrapāṇi, “chakra-handed”); ultimately from चक्र (cakra, “chakra”) + पाणि (pāṇi, “hand”).

translit

Name of Vishnu, bearer of the Sudarshana Chakra.


Duryodhana

Transliteration of Sanskrit दुर्योधन (duryodhana).

A major character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the eldest of the Kauravas.


Chitragupta

A Hindu god assigned with the task of keeping complete records of actions of human beings on the earth.


siryah

(Islam) Any of the battles in which the Islamic prophet Muhammad personally did not participate but to which he sent Sahabis.


Capernaum

From Late Latin Capharnaum, from Ancient Greek Καπερναούμ (Kapernaoúm), from Biblical Hebrew כְּפַר נַחוּם (Kfar Nahum, “Nahum's Village”).

der

כְּפַר נַחוּם

An ancient town in Galilee, Israel, a biblical and archaeological site.


Aryaman

Transliteration of Sanskrit अर्यमन् (aryáman). The given name is from Hindi आर्यमन (āryaman).

translit

(Vedic religion) a Hindu solar deity: an Aditya


anāgāmi

Transliteration of Pali anāgāmin; the final 'n' is omitted in keeping with the Pali nominative and vocative singular.

(Buddhism) A “non-returning” person, who will not be reborn into the physical word before achieving nirvana.


Islamness

(Islam) The state of being Muslim or Islamic.


atheologist

The turbulent life and fragmentary writings of a third woman, Colette Peignot (1903-38) are also becoming better known in their own right and not simply for the influence they had on those of her lover during the last years of her life, the self-styled "atheologist" Georges Bataille (1897-1962) who, along with others, was responsible for her posthumous mythologization as "Laure."

2004, Richard D. E. Burton, Holy Tears, Holy Blood: Women, Catholicism, and the Culture of Suffering in France, 1840-1970, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page x:

It would be wrong to use this as a direct proof of God's existence and equally wrong to imagine, along with the atheologists in cosmological physics, that a system of equations can bootstrap its own parameters and constants, also actualizing what is described by those specific equations.

2006, Loyd L. Fueston, To See a World in a Grain of Sand: Reconciling the Saints to Darwin and Einstein, Divorcing the Saints from Smith and Lincoln, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN, page 114:

In his review of the history of atheism, French atheologist Michel Onfray dates its explicit inception to 1729 and a book published posthumously by the Abbe Jean Meslier, the parish priest of Etrépigny in northeastern France.

2008, Vox Day, The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens, BenBella Books, →ISBN:

(philosophy, religion) A scholar and/or proponent of atheism.


kinnari

It’s a small sculpture in the form of a bird with the head of a woman, a type of mythical creature known as a kinnari.

2015 September 24, Ken Johnson, “Review: ‘Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms’”, in New York Times:


Jumada I

From Arabic جُمَادَى الْأُولَى (jumādā l-ʔūlā, “Jumada the First”).

derived

جُمَادَى الْأُولَى

After that, on the 1st of First Jumada, we arrived at the city of al-Iskandariyah, may God protect her!

1958-1994, Hamilton Gibb & CF Beckingham, in The Travels of Ibn Battutah, Folio Society 2012, p. 8

According to Ibn Ḥumayd—Salamah—Ibn Isḥāq: After the Messenger of God had returned to Medina from Dhāt al-Riqā‘, he remained there for the rest of Jumādā al-Ūla, Jumādā al-Ākhirah, and Rajab (late October 62 5 to early January 626).

1987, MV McDonald, History of al-Tabari Vol. 7, page 165:

During the night and following day of 11 Jumadda I, there was an earthquake in Zabid and its districts; tremors continued day and night and the people were alarmed.

1994, N. N. Ambraseys, C. P. Melville, R. D. Adams, The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia and the Red Sea, page 52:

A pigeon-post was delivered to Damascus on Wednesday, Jumādā I 8 (February 11, 1299) with the information of al-Malik al-Nasir's investiture at the Cairo Citadel.

1998, Li Guo, Early Mamluk Syrian Historiography, page 119:

The fifth month of the Islamic calendar.


kinnara

Transliteration of Sanskrit किन्नर (kinnara).

translit

(Indian mythology) A celestial lover and musician, half-human and either half-horse or half-bird.


atheocracy

An atheocracy is not a practicable form of government.

1907, Thomas Whittaker, The Liberal State: A Speculation, Watts & Co., page 14:

An atheocracy of the Marxian type is as intolerant of liberty of thought as any Holy Roman Empire or Bible-ridden company of Puritans.

1950, William Pepperell Montague, Great Visions of Philosophy: Varieties of Speculative Thought in the West from the Greeks to Bergson, The Open Court Publishing Company, page 32:

More than a few thinkers have noted the irony of secularism as itself constituting a de facto “religious” system of thought, which defines how and why we can believe things, and where we can talk about them. As some might put it: a secular atheocracy.

2012 February 22, Robert Joustra, “Beware the secular atheocracy”, in The Globe and Mail:


$cientology

Scientology with the currency sign $ denoting greedy business practices.

We know that $cientology's psychotic tyrant, David Miscavige, dropped out after the 8th grade.

1997 December 2, Mark Dallara, “HELL WEEK for $cientology!”, in alt.slack (Usenet), message-ID <6605m8$gc9@news-central.tiac.net>:

Vicki Aznaran was a top $cientology official working directly under David Miscavige, the current leader.

1999 April 21, anonymous author, “$CIENTOLOGY SURVIVORS SPEAK OUT”, in alt.religion.scientology (Usenet), message-ID <199904210118.DAA02704@mail.replay.com>:

In knowing that $cientology has many front groups, as secular, etc.. this affords them the evasion of being prosecuted under any one name.

2009 March 18, Maureen, “What is $cientology 'contravening?' (violating)”, in alt.religion.scientology (Usenet), message-ID <cc4f9a03-3fd6-4d6b-82f1-873bc5100aa5@j39g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>:

(derogatory) Scientology, regarded as a scam.


Rabi II

From Arabic رَبِيعُ الثَّانِي (rabīʕu ṯ-ṯānī), رَبِيعُ الْآخِر (rabīʕu l-ʔāḵir).

uder

رَبِيعُ الثَّانِي

I witnessed at the time of the Great Plague at Damascus in the latter part of the month of Second Rabi of the year 749 a remarkable instance of the veneration of the people of Damascus for this mosque.

1958-1994, Hamilton Gibb & CF Beckingham, in The Travels of Ibn Battutah, Folio Society 2012, p. 41

The first and primary issue that he addressed was the status of the single, revocable repudiation that al-Haskuri had issued on 12 Rabī‘ II 714/26 July 1314.

2002, David S. Powers, Law, Society and Culture in the Maghrib, 1300-1500, page 61:

On 3 Rabi‘ al-Thani 1414H (20 September 1993AD), Ibn Baz responded to Naif's official letter.

2011, Mansoor Jassem Alshamsi, Islam and Political Reform in Saudi Arabia, page 119:

The fourth month of the Islamic calendar.

رَبِيع الثَّانِي

rabīʕ aṯ-ṯānī


kshanti

(Buddhism) patience, forbearance and forgiveness: one of the paramitas in Theravāda and Mahāyāna Buddhism.


FFB

(Judaism) Initialism of frum from birth.


Amram

Learned borrowing from Latin Amram, from Ancient Greek Ἀμβράμ (Ambrám), from Biblical Hebrew עַמְרָם (ʕamrɔm).


Rambam

From Hebrew רַמְבַּ״ם (rambam), acronym of רַבִּי מֹשֶׁה בֶּן מַיְמוֹן (rabí moshé ben maymón, “Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon”).

Maimonides, a 12th-century Jewish philosopher.


communer

Namely, in these things, in prohibiting that none should commune alone, in making the people whole communers, or in suffering them to commune under both kinds […]

1679–1715, Gilbert Burnet, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of the Reformation of the Church of England., London: […] T[homas] H[odgkin] for Richard Chiswell, […]:

(Christianity) One who receives communion.


pre-Adamitism

The doctrine of 'pre-Adamitism,' while heretical and guaranteed to generate storms of controversy, won some prominent adherents.

1994, Alvin Snider, Origin and Authority in Seventeenth-Century England, page 134:

He probably also had theological reasons for not considering pre-Adamitism.

2007, Davis A. Young, John Calvin and the natural world, →ISBN, page 151:

(theology) The belief that humanity is descended from a single progenitor that predates Adam.


co-Adamitism

(theology) The belief that the different races are descended from separately created progenitors.


hojatoleslam

Borrowed from Persian حُجَّتُالْاِسلام (hojjatoleslâm), from Arabic حُجَّةُ ٱلْإِسْلَامِ (ḥujjatu l-ʔislāmi, literally “authority on Islam”)

bor+

حُجَّتُالْاِسلام

der

حُجَّةُ ٱلْإِسْلَامِ

(Islam) A middle-ranking Islamic cleric.


kalasha

Borrowed from Sanskrit कलश (kalaśa, “pitcher, pot”).

bor+

A metal pot with a large base and small mouth, used in Hindu rites, in which it is filled with water, coins, grain, etc. and topped with a coconut.


Kingdomtide

From kingdom + -tide, from the Festival of Christ the King that culminates the season.

(Protestantism) The period or season of the Christian church year between the seasons of Pentecost and Advent, or the second half of this period.


Reformation Sunday

In Protestant churches, a commemoration of Martin Luther's 95 Theses, observed on the last Sunday in October (from Reformation Day, which was originally 31 October 1517).


Bhavani

A Hindu goddess, Durga in her amiable form.


Kamakshi

Borrowed from Sanskrit कामाक्षी (kāmākṣī).


Nalanda

(Buddhism) A large Buddhist monastery in the ancient kingdom of Magadha (modern-day Bihar) in India.


Atri

(Hinduism) A legendary bard and scholar, one of nine Prajapatis, a son of Brahma, said to be ancestor of some Brahmins. Atri is one of the Saptarishi (Seven Great Sages) in the seventh, i.e. the present Manvantara.


Janaka

An ancient king of Videha. The Janaka dynasty ruled the Videha kingdom in the Mithila region from the capital city of the same name.


aeviternal

Further, if there is no before and after in aeviternity, it follows that in aeviternal things there is no difference between being, having been, or going to be. Since then it is impossible for aeviternal things not to have been, it follows that it is impossible for them not to be in the future; which is false, since God can reduce them to nothing.

1862, (St. Thomas Aquinas), Summa Theologica - Volume 1, →ISBN, page 78:

In aeviternal rhythms the current of time would be channeled in the cosmos, reflecting not only the pulsation of life within the microcosm, but with it also the possibility of realization, in samadhi, of timelessness.

1992, Stella Kramrisch, The Presence of Siva, →ISBN, page 268:

And in general, memory and imagination, bygone facts and aeviternal fictions, are closely intermingled, since the factual memory, as it drops back, is almost inexorably transformed into a fictive image, while imagined images are often artfully assimilated to the factual past.

2001, Eva Brann, What, Then, Is Time?, →ISBN, page 214:

It is hard because it is very difficult to convert our thinking from the physical to the spiritual; from time to aeviternal and more so to eternity.

2014, Justin Nnaemeka Onyeukaziri, Echoes of the Good News, →ISBN, page 93:

(theology) Pertaining to aeviternity, a state between eternity, which is unchanging and outside of time, and temporality, which is subject to change and to death or annihilation. Things aeviternal are creations, like the temporal, but everlasting, like the eternal.


Nazir

(Judaism) A treatise, in the Talmud, devoted to the Nazirite laws.


Rohini

(Hinduism) Rohini, sister of Yashoda, one of the wives Vasudeva, mother of Balarama, and Subhadra, the siblings of the Krishna.


Kumārajīva

Buddhist monk (334–413 CE), scholar and translator from the Kingdom of Kucha, mostly remembered for translating Buddhist texts written in Sanskrit to Chinese.


Holy Bible

the Holy Bible (canonical)
Holy Bibles (plural)

(ecclesiastical) Honorific name for the collection of the books of the Bible according to a Christian canon.

(ecclesiastical) Honorific name for a book containing the books of the Bible according to a Christian canon.


acolytate

Secondly, only men are eligible to be "installed" or "instituted" in the lay ministries of lector and acolyte (c.230 §1). These two ministries used to be among the “minor orders,” but Pope Paul VI suppressed the minor orders and established the lectorate and acolytate as lay ministries in 1972; since that time, lay men—and only men—may be installed (or instituted) as lectors and acolytes (c.230 §1).

2016, Marie Failinger, Feminism, Law, and Religion, page 352:

(Catholicism) The minor order of acolytes.


buka puasa

Unadapted borrowing from Malay, from buka (“to open”) + puasa (“fasting, Ramadan”).

The buka puasa functions which flourish during the fasting month have become the latest addition to the Malaysian way of life.

1990 April 24, The Straits Times, page 29:

Experience Singapore’s traditional Buka Puasa favourites from the Halal Chinese, Malay and Indian show kitchens during the Muslim fasting month, Ramadan.

2005 October 7, The Business Times, page 32:

They are pulling out all the stops by offering special buka puasa menus and dishes to tantalise the tastebuds of diners.

(Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Islam) Relating to iftar.


cross bearer

He was at the head of a splendid train of religious, civil and military men, mingled together, or, as the old ballad maker expresses it,
"With many a cross bearer before,
And many a spear behind."

1823, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 18, in Quentin Durward:

Behind the verger walked a cross-bearer, the Canterbury choristers and seven decrepit beadsmen. Behind the decrepit beadsmen came a long array of Canterbury canons, chaplains and dignitaries in all their robes, followed by pages carrying the maces of Canterbury and York and the cross of Canterbury.

1942 May 4, “Religion: Canterbury Pilgrim”, in Time, retrieved 2015-10-28:

There were three main processions which were led by a cross bearer.

2014 April 18, Andrew Bloss, “Crucifixion re-enacted in Croydon on Good Friday”, in Your Local Guardian, UK, retrieved 2015-10-28:

(Christianity) A person who carries a cross in a Christian religious procession.


Ladder of Jacob

(religion) A pseudepigraphic writing of the Old Testament, preserved only in Slavonic and not generally regarded as scripture.


Merkabah

bor

Hebrew מֶרְכָּבָה

(religion) A school of early Jewish mysticism, circa 100 BCE – 1000 CE, based around visions.


Desert Father

(religion, historical) Any of the early Christian hermits, ascetics and monks who lived mainly in the Scetes desert of Egypt, beginning around the third century AD, and were a major influence on the development of Christianity.


namghar

A modern Namghar is an open rectangular hall having accommodation for five hundred to fifteen hundred people.

1978, SM Dubey, editor, North East India: A Sociological Study, page 192:

The namghar serves the purpose of a prayer hall as well as a hall for holding religious meetings and discussions.

1993, Surajit Sinha, Anthropology of Weaker Sections, page 40:

‘I have offered a gold flower at the naamghar; to the temple I have offered a trident.’

2015, Arupa Patangia Kalita, translated by Ranjita Biswas, Written in Tears, Harper Perennial, page 10:

A prayer hall in Assam for communal worship.


anumarana

(historical) The ancient Indian practice of voluntary death by self-immolation by Hindu widows after the death of the husband.


sokushinbutsu

From Japanese 即身仏 (そくしんぶつ, sokushinbutsu, literally “Buddha immediately [turning into] his body”).

Buddha immediately 􂀿turning into􂁀 his body

(historical) A Buddhist monk observing austerity to the point of death and mummification.


Prester John

(mediaeval folklore) A legendary Christian king of a distant Eastern or African kingdom.


pereq

(Judaism, in the Mishna) A subdivision of a masekhet; loosely, a chapter or section thereof.


trisula

It may be wondered, at first sight, that the innumerable texts left by Buddhism give us no positive information with regard to the meaning and origin of the trisula.

1894, Eugène Goblet d'Alviella, The Migration of Symbols:

The trisula placed upon a pillar surmounted by flames is the monogram of Buddha.

1945, William J. Fielding, Strange Superstitions and Magical Practices, page ii. 15:

She had a trishul in one hand. Her long raven-black hair was left loose.

2004, Khushwant Singh, Burial at Sea, Penguin, page 96:

The trishula is most commonly associated with the god Shiva, one of the most prominent Hindu deities and the primary god in the sect of Hinduism known as "Shaivism."

2014, Micah Issitt, Carlyn Main, Hidden Religion, page 168:

(Hinduism, Buddhism) A trident, seen as a religious symbol of Hinduism and Buddhism.


Eurybia

(Greek mythology) A sea goddess in Ancient Greek mythology.


exomologesis

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐξομολόγησις (exomológēsis, “confession”).

ἐξομολόγησις

Will the sinner knowingly spurn exomologesis, which has been instituted by God for his restoration? that exomologesis which restored the king of Babylon to his royal throne?

1959, Tertullian, “...”, in William P. Le Saint, editor, Treatises on Penance: On Penitence and On Purity, Issue 28, →ISBN, page 36:

(religion) The rite of confession and repentance.


new wine

en-noun

new wine (countable and uncountable, plural new wines)

From Middle English newe wijne, from Old English nīwe wīn, equivalent to new + wine. Name taken from several places in the Holy Bible, most notably Acts 2:13 and Luke 5:37.

Any number of Christian revivals and New Christian movements.


shabbos goy

/ˈʃɑbəs ˈɡɔɪ/

Borrowed from Yiddish שבת גוי (shabes goy, literally “Sabbath gentile”).

bor+

Sometimes the family was helped on the Sabbath by a shabbos goy who would light some candles in their house.

A Gentile who performs certain acts which are forbidden to observant Jews on the Sabbath/Shabbat, such as kindling fire.


watchnight

New Year's Eve

whereas watch night is the night that begins at sundown on New Year's Eve and ends with sunrise on New Year's Day

not identical to watchnight – New Year's Eve is the entire day before New Year's Day

The ſpiritual concerns, ſhall be managed by the preachers; who have ever appointed leaders, choſen ſtewards, and admitted members into, and expelled them, from the ſociety, conſulting their brethren the leaders and ſtewards, according to the rules before mentioned. The preachers alſo as hitherto, are to appoint love-feaſts, and watch-nights, and to vary the time and places of preaching, claſs-meeting, &c.

1779, John Wesley, Minutes of Several Conversations, between the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. and the Preachers in Connection with Him. Containing the Form of Discipline Established Among the Preachers and People in the Methodist Societies, London: Printed for G[eorge] Whit[e]field, City-Road, and sold at all the Methodist preaching-houses, in town and country, →OCLC, pages 51–52:

We offer no apology for the Methodist watchnight service. It needs none. In the first days of Methodism, indeed, this service was misrepresented and reviled by those who sought occasion against us; […] The Wesleyan watchnight dates from the earliest times of the United Societies. We have this account of its origin by [William] Myles, in his "Chronological History:"—"The custom was begun at Kingswood by the colliers there, who, before their conversion, used to spend every Saturday-night at the ale-house. After they were taught better, they spent that night in prayer. Mr. [John] Wesley, hearing of it, ordered it first to be once a month, at the full of the moon; then once a quarter, and recommended it to all his Societies."

1861 December, John Reacher, “The End of the Year, and its Watchnight”, in The Christian Miscellany, and Family Visiter. For the Year 1861, volume VII, 2nd series, London: Published by John Mason, 27, City-Road; sold at 66, Paternoster Row, →OCLC, page 370:

[Joseph] Pilmore conducted the first watchnight in Virginia, lasting from 8:00 p.m. until midnight, on Sunday, April 25, 1773. Like the love-feast, the watchnight often formed one of the more public features of the quarterly meetings […]

1976, Frank Baker, From Wesley to Asbury: Studies in Early American Methodism, Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, →ISBN:

Watchnights were further times of prayer and witness, late into the night, and modelled by Wesley on the vigils of feasts in the primitive church.

1983, R. W. Gribben, “Methodism”, in Gordon S. Wakefield, editor, The SCM Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, SCM Press, →ISBN, page 266:

The practice actually began with the Moravians, a small Christian denomination, in Europe. Scholars believe that the first Watch Night service was held in 1733 on the estate of a German count. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, incorporated the Watch Night service into his denomination, where it took root. These early Watch Night services were not New Year's Eve events, however. They were held once a month and on full moons. The first Watch Night service in the United States was held in 1770 at Old St. George's Church in Philadelphia.

2010, John J. Dunphy, From Christmas to Twelfth Night in Southern Illinois, Charleston, S.C.: The History Press, →ISBN, page 112:

(Christianity, historical) A monthly or quarterly religious service participated in by Methodists which extended past midnight.

And there is one night in the year I have always observed – the good old Methodist vigil called Watch-night, popularly described as "seeing the old year out and the new year in." […] I have only been a Methodist once a year; and peculiar, accordingly, have my watch-night emotions been. There stands the old portico in —— street; can it be a year since I ascended those steps? These are the aisles, the columns, the pulpit, the recess with its inscriptions, the Christmas evergreens yet fresh over the Communion Table – silent preachers all, that seem to say: "You and I are a year older, friend; but we have seen more watch-nights than you, and are likely to see more yet;[…]["]

1861, “Watch-night in the Channel”, in The Sunday at Home: A Family Magazine for Sabbath Reading, London: The Religious Tract Society, →OCLC, page 260:

This was the first watchnight meeting among the Methodists. The people met at half-past eight; the house was filled from end to end; and "we concluded the year," says [John] Wesley, "wrestling with God in prayer, and praising Him for the wonderful work which He had already wrought upon the earth."

1872, L[uke] Tyerman, The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., Founder of the Methodists. … In Three Volumes, volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 333:

Wesleyan Methodist Twentieth Century Celebration: Order of Watchnight Service to be Held in Every Wesleyan-Methodist Place of Worship in Great Britain on the Night of Monday, 31st December, 1900, Being the Last Night of the Nineteenth Century

[1900], Wesleyan Methodist Twentieth Century Celebration, London, Aylesbury: Hazell, Watson and Viney, →OCLC, cover title:

The first watch night services ever held in Grace Protestant Episcopal Church were but poorly attended, […]

1901 January 1, “Watch Night Services”, in The New York Times, page 2:

Watchnight. December 31 This is a midnight service that summarizes the past year. In recent centuries, the Moravians and early Methodists have celebrated it as a vigil service focusing on newness, the spiritual life, and covenants.

1999, R. Mark Liebenow, And Everyone Shall Praise: Resources for Multicultural Worship, Cleveland, Oh.: United Church Press, →ISBN, page 77:

(Christianity) A religious service involving a review of the past year and preparation for the year ahead participated in by Methodists and members of other Christian denominations which starts late on New Year's Eve and ends after midnight on New Year's Day; hence, the night that begins on December 31 and ends on January 1.


put the fear of God into

en-verb

put the fear of God into (third-person singular simple present puts the fear of God into, present participle putting the fear of God into, simple past and past participle put the fear of God into)

puts the fear of God into (present singular third-person)
putting the fear of God into (participle present)
put the fear of God into (participle past)
put the fear of God into (past)

To cause someone to repent through fear of the wrath of God.


Sosipater

From Ecclesiastical Latin Sōsipater, from Ancient Greek Σωσῐ́πᾰτρος (Sōsípatros), from σῴζω (sṓizō, “save”) + πᾰτήρ (patḗr, “father”), literally “savior of the father.” The second element takes its form from the native Latin pater (“father”).

compound

(Christianity) A person mentioned in Romans 16:21. Perhaps the same person as Sopater


Europistan

Either Christians will surrender as they did in Europistan, or they will fight back with equal if not greater brutality.

2015, Eric aka the TYGRRRR EXPRESS, Ideological Lunacy:

At this rate we will go the way of Europistan. Italy has had a declining birthrate in recent years. Europe is finished. Its citizens refuse to reproduce while Islamist women keep churning out the next generation of radical Islamists.

2016, Michael Savage, Scorched Earth: Restoring the Country after Obama:

Russia also joined the coalition in 2210 A.D. when the Islamic States of Europistan began to invade sections of the Russian controlled lands.

2016, Davidson L. Haworth, The Icarus Project:

(informal, derogatory or humorous) Europe, perceived as controlled by Islamic interests.


Deepawali

(Hinduism) Alternative form of Deepavali


tsukubai

A small basin, usually of stone, used for ritual ablution in Japanese Buddhist temples and before the tea ceremony.


chindi

According to Navajo beliefs, a harmful ghost that leaves a person's body when they die and may remain around their possessions.


papisher

(archaic, religious slur, Christianity) A Roman Catholic; a papist.


Barabbas

Borrowed from Latin Barabbās, from Ancient Greek Βαραββᾶς (Barabbâs), from Aramaic בּר אַבָּא (bar ʾabbā, “son of the father”).

der

And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made inſurrection with him, who had committed murder in the inſurrection.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 15:7:

(Christianity) In the accounts of the Passion of Christ, an insurrectionary whom Pontius Pilate freed at the Passover feast in Jerusalem, instead of Jesus.

Barabba

insurrectionary whom Pontius Pilate freed instead of releasing Jesus


antipaedobaptism

(religion) Opposition to the baptism of infants.


starets

Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church

An elder of a monastery in the Russian Orthodox Church who functions as an adviser and teacher.

starec

an elder of a monastery in the Russian Orthodox Church who functions as an adviser and teacher


hell-born

en-adj

hell-born (comparative more hell-born, superlative most hell-born)

more hell-born (comparative)
most hell-born (superlative)


Daesh

Transliteration of Arabic دَاعِش (dāʕiš, literally “D.I.I.S.”) the Arabic language acronym for الدَّوْلَة الْإِسْلَامِيَّة فِي الْعِرَاق وَالشَّام (ad-dawla l-ʔislāmiyya fī l-ʕirāq wa-š-šām, literally “State Islamic of Iraq and the Levant”). The forms Da'esh, Da'ish and Daish refer to the same acronym but are transliterated differently. The Arabic acronym is thought to have been coined in 2013 by a Syrian activist. It resembles the Arabic words دعس (da'es) (that which is crushed) or داحس (dāhis) (one who causes discord).

translit

(derogatory) Synonym of ISIS, ISIL, Islamic State

دَاعِش

translations of the term "Daesh" only — see also ISIS


Shunem

uder

Hebrew שׁוּנֵם

A small village mentioned in the Pentateuch.


Shunamite

An inhabitant of the Biblical village of Shunem.


Shunamite

Of or relating to the Biblical village of Shunem or its inhabitants.


monasterial

From Middle English monasterial, from Latin monastēriālis.


perispirit

From peri- + spirit.
In Allan Kardec's 1857 book The Spirits Book (Le Livre des Esprits in original French), the term is defined with a direct analogy to perisperm (“layer of nutritive tissue that surrounds the embryo of a seed in some angiosperms”).

(spiritualism) A layer of an abstract, ethereal material that is said to serve as the bond between one's spirit and physical body.


nouthetic

From Ancient Greek νουθετέω (nouthetéō, “to admonish”).

der

(Christianity) Being or relating to a form of Evangelical Protestant pastoral counseling based upon the Bible and focused on Christ.


Dasharatha

/ˈdɑːʃɒrɒtɒ/

Borrowed from Sanskrit दशरथ (daśaratha).

(Hinduism) A king of Ayodhya and a descendant of the Ikshvaku dynasty in the Ramayana.


strangely warmed

en-adj

strangely warmed (comparative more strangely warmed, superlative most strangely warmed)

more strangely warmed (comparative)
most strangely warmed (superlative)

First used by Anglican/Methodist theologian John Wesley.

He may indeed have known St. Botolph's Church there at the gate where the heart of John Wesley was “strangely warmed” in his encounter with the Moravians as he listened to the scholarly words of Martin Luther's preface to Paul's letter to the Romans.

2012, Kenneth L. Vaux, The Ministry of Vincent Van Gogh in Religion and Art, page 31:

(Methodism) Experiencing a fervent spiritual experience.


gelong

A fully ordained Buddhist monastic observing the entire Vinaya.


Hanukkah bush

A Jewish substitute for a Christmas tree formerly commonly used in North America during the holiday season.


First Communion

en-noun

First Communion (plural First Communions)

(Roman Catholicism) The first time that a person, usually a child, receives the sacrament of Communion.

Erstkommunion

first time that a person receives the sacrament of Communion

(Roman Catholicism) The celebration of the former, consisting of a solemn mass and generally a following private party.

Erstkommunion

celebration consisting of a mass and a party


s.a.w.w.

An initialism formed from Arabic صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم (ṣallā llāhu ʕalayhi wasallam).

uder

صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم

صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم


purusha

(Hinduism) In early Vedas, a cosmic man whose sacrifice by the gods created all life.

(Hinduism) In the Upanishad, an abstract essence of self, spirit, and the Universal Principle that is eternal, without form and all-pervasive, distinguished from the mutable material world.


infallibilism

en-noun

infallibilism (countable and uncountable, plural infallibilisms)

A doctrine of the infallibility of a certain person or thing, especially (Roman Catholicism) the doctrine of papal infallibility; support of this doctrine.


Harpocrates

From Ancient Greek Ἁρποκράτης (Harpokrátēs), from Egyptian ḥr-pꜣ-ẖrd, from ḥr (“Horus”) + pꜣ (“the”) + ẖrd (“child”).

(Greek mythology) The god of silence, secrets and confidentiality.

Roman goddess of trust and confidentiality


means of grace

(Christianity, theology) a means by which God gives grace, usually considered to include both word and sacrament, and often other ways as well


tawiz

Borrowed from Hindi तावीज़ (tāvīz) / Urdu تَعْوِیذ (taʻwīẕ, taʻvīẕ), from Arabic تَعْوِيذ (taʕwīḏ)

bor

Urdu تَعْوِیذ (taʻwīẕ, taʻvīẕ)

Arabic تَعْوِيذ (taʕwīḏ)

An amulet or locket containing verses from the Qur'an or other Islamic prayers and symbols.


bhagwaan

(India, Hinduism) a Hindu deity, such as Rama or Krishna.

(India, Hinduism) a saint or a holy man.


tovel

en-verb

tovel (third-person singular simple present tovels, present participle toveling, simple past and past participle toveled)

tovels (present singular third-person)
toveling (participle present)
toveled (participle past)
toveled (past)

From Yiddish טובֿלן (toyvln), from Hebrew טוֹבֵל (tovél), present tense of טָבַל (tavál).

(Judaism) to immerse (something, especially kitchenware) into a mikveh


Aidos

(Greek mythology) The goddess or personification of humility, modesty.


Chakradhar

From Sanskrit चक्रधर (cakradhara), literally "discus-bearer".


habous

(Islam, law) An equivalent of mortmain in Islamic law


theotokion

(Christianity) A hymn to Mary, the Theotokos, read or chanted during the Divine Services of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches.


chorten

Borrowed from Tibetan མཆོད་རྟེན (mchod rten).


noli me tangere

en-noun

noli me tangere (plural noli me tangeres)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-noli me tangere.wav

/-ˌmeɪ ˈtɑnd͡ʒəɹeɪ/

Antonio da Correggio
Jesus
Mary Magdalene
Museo del Prado
Vulgate

PIE word
 *ne
From Middle English noli me tangere, noly me tangere (“skin disease of the face; bad-tempered person who should be avoided; personification of wrath”), a learned borrowing from Late Latin nōlī mē tangere (literally “do not touch me”), from Latin nōlī (“do not”) + mē (“me, myself”) + tangere (the present active infinitive of tangō (“to grasp; to touch”)). The phrase is recorded in John 20:17 of the Vulgate, a 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible, as having been spoken to Mary Magdalene by Jesus shortly after his resurrection outside his tomb. The original phrase was the Koine Greek μή μου ἅπτου (mḗ mou háptou, “stop clinging to me”).
Senses 2–5 refer to the literal meaning of the phrase. For example, in the case of sense 4 (“any of various plants with fruits or seed capsules that, when ripe, burst open and discharge their seeds when touched, or with leaves that fold and droop when touched”), the name alludes to the assumption that the plants do not wish to be touched, and react by exploding their fruits or closing their leaves if this happens.

ref

From the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.

noncog

μή μου ἅπτου

asia josta pysyä loitolla

someone or something to be avoided or not interfered with

kosketusherkkä kasvi

In the rest of the private lodgings contiguous to this, are divers of the best pictures of the greate masters, Raphael, Titian, &c. and, in my esteeme, above all, the Noli me tangere of our blessed Saviour to Mary Magdalen after his Resurrection, of Hans Holbein [the Younger], than which I never saw so much reverence and kind of heavenly astonishment express'd in a picture.

1680 September 12 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 2 September 1680]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 524:

In a compartment over the communion-table is an estimable picture; a noli me tangere, by [Anton Raphael] Mengs, who painted it at Rome, and parted with it to the college for three hundred guineas.

1813, J[ames] N[orris] Brewer, “Oxfordshire [All Souls’ College]”, in The Beauties of England and Wales: Or, Original Delineations, Topographical, Historical, and Descriptive, of Each County. […], volume XII, part II, London: […] J. Harris; […], →OCLC, page 110:

Half of the other pictures are Magdalens, Flights into Egypt, Crucifixions, Depositions from the Cross, Pietas, Noli-me-tangeres, or the Sacrifice of Abraham, or martyrdoms of saints, originally painted as altar-pieces, or for the shrines of chapels, and wofully lacking the accompaniments which the artist had in view.

1860, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Emptiness of Picture-galleries”, in The Marble Faun: Or, The Romance of Monte Beni. […], volume II, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 133:

He studied a tapestry on one wall of a noli me tangere wrought by a craftsman whose signature was illegible.

2008, Allen Russo, chapter 1, in Rufus of Rhodes: Volume II: Marching with the Legions, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 13:

(Christianity, art) A picture depicting Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene shortly after his resurrection from the dead (see the etymology).


transubstantiationist

(Christianity) A believer in transubstantiation.


tripersonalism

(Christianity) Belief in a tripersonal God, comprising the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.


transubstantiationism

(Christianity) Belief in transubstantiation.


Christfollower

[…] the likelihood that our kids will be Christfollowers as adults.

2006, David Lynn, Kathy Lynn, Home Grown Faith, →ISBN, page 48:

(rare, evangelical US Christianity) Alternative form of Christ-follower (“follower of Christ; Christian”)


adharma

en-noun

adharma (countable and uncountable, plural adharmas)

That which is not in accord with dharma, i.e. wrong, immorality, and wickedness.


sheva brachot

From Hebrew שֶׁבַע בְּרָכוֹת (shéva' b'rakhót, literally “seven blessings”).

der

שֶׁבַע בְּרָכוֹת

If at least 10 adults are present, grace after meals culminates with the recitation of the sheva b'rakhot (the seven blessings pronounced during the wedding ceremony) with the blessing over the wine recited last.

2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 172:

the seven blessings recited after grace after meals at a wedding feast, and at festivities during the week after or before the wedding.


Sherifian

(Islam) Relating to a descendant of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima


siddha

(Hinduism, Jainism) One who has achieved a high degree of physical and spiritual development.


singspiration

/ˌsɪŋ.spəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/

Very early in the camp life a Young People's Church Committee was organized, and it in turn sponsored Friday night singspirations. Kenzo Yoshida was the chairman of the committee and Gladys Onoye was the pianist […]

1979, Lester E. Suzuki, Ministry in the assembly and relocation centers of World War II, page 87:

Singspirations were group singing of gospel choruses: "Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah! Praise ye the Lord!"

1994, Jane Piirto, A Location in the Upper Peninsula: Essays, Poems, Stories, page 8:

American youth collections, such as Youth Favorites, supplied the English songs for youth fellowship singspiration time of some churches.

2006, Myrleene Grace Chiew Yap, The Development of Congregational Song Among Chinese Churches in the Philippines (1903–2003) (dissertation), page 50:

Another intern was Chris Conway from Converse, Indiana, who worked with the youth choir and helped with the younger children so they could sing special songs for singspirations.

2012, Madonna Burget Spratt, Eleanor Daniel, Who Am I, page 300:

(Christianity) A worship service, or sometimes a part of a service or any other church activity, involving the singing of hymns.


Wailing Wall

After the Jewish practice of weeping at the site over the Destruction of the Temple.

(Judaism, possibly offensive) The Western Wall.


Kotel

Borrowed from Hebrew כֹּתֶל (kótel, “wall”).


Fo

(archaic) Buddha, in the context of Chinese Buddhism.


Western Wall

From its location on the western side of the Temple Mount.

(Judaism) An ancient wall on the western side of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, remnant of the Jewish Second Temple. It is the holiest site in Judaism.

حَائِط الْبُرَاق

ancient wall in Jerusalem, remnant of the Jewish Second Temple


goddessling

The cult of the goddessling Suo-Duo or So-Do is so strongly prevalent in Lower Bengal that, on the Pous Sankrant Day or Makar Sankrant Day, which falls on or about...

1928, The Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay, volume 14, page 811:

After they had become Hinduized and had adopted Hindu manners and customs, they began to worship a number of Hindu godlings and goddesslings along with their old tribal deities.

1984, Indian Culture: Journal of the Indian Research Institute, volume 4, page 247:

its paganism looks away from nature to myth or (as Coleridge unkindly put it when preferring Hebrew poetry to Greek), for the Greeks ‘all natural objects were dead – mere hollow statues – but there was a godkin or goddessling included in each’.

1988, Laurence Lerner, “Ovid and the Elizabethans”, in Ovid Renewed, page 134:

(religion) A minor female divinity; a local or inferior goddess.


halutz

bor

Hebrew חָלוּץ

(Judaism) A pioneer, especially one of the early Jewish immigrants to Palestine.


hexerei

Borrowed from Pennsylvania German Hexerei.


world to come

Translation of Hebrew הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא (ha'olám habá, literally “the coming world”).

der

הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא

(Judaism) The Jewish afterlife or mythic future, usually thought to occur after the coming of the Messiah, in which the righteous are rewarded for their good deeds and the wicked punished for their evil deeds


10/40 Window

This intercessor's guide features maps and information on each 10/40 Window nation, covering trends, religions, people groups, and history.

1995, George Otis, Mark Brockman, Strongholds of the 10/40 window, →ISBN:

All three major non-Christian religions — Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism — originated in the 10/40 Window and have their greatest strength there.

1996, Gailyn Van Rheenen, Missions: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Strategies, →ISBN, page 209:

The primary but not exclusive focus of AD2000 became the 10/40 Window, a term coined for the area of the world between ten degrees and forty degrees north latitude, stretching from northern Africa and southern Spain to Japan and the northern Philippines.

2003, Jon Bonk, Between Past and Future, →ISBN, page 21:

The geographic region between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude, especially when considered as a target for Christian missionary work.


love offering

There are actually some preachers who are timid about urging people to give a good revival love offering.

2000, Hugh F. Pyle, What Every Preacher Should Know!, →ISBN, page 307:

No one thought of taking up a love offering! I was irritated to say the least. My only consolation was that I knew the second service would have an even larger crowd, so at least we would get the love offering from that one.

2010, Ron Owens, Iris: Trophy of Grace, →ISBN, page 70:

In the typical love offering approach, the funds are received by the church or nonprofit (payments directly to an individual are discussed above).

2010, Dan Busby, Zondervan Church and Nonprofit Tax & Financial Guide 2010, →ISBN:

(Christianity) Money collected from members of a congregation by passing a plate during the religious service.


Paulite

(Catholicism) A member of the Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit.


trichiliocosm

From tri- + chilia- + cosmos, partially calquing Sanskrit त्रिसहस्रमहासहस्रलोकधातु (trisahasramahāsahasralokadhātu, literally “three thousand million world element”).

त्रिसहस्रमहासहस्रलोकधातु

(Buddhism) A concept in cosmology of a "third-order" universe containing one thousand second-order clusters, which are made of one thousand first-order clusters, which are in turn made of a thousand worlds each. Billion-fold universe.


great martyr

Calque of Ancient Greek μεγαλομάρτυς (megalomártus).

calque

μεγαλομάρτυς

(Eastern Orthodoxy) A saint who was martyred after suffering great torture.

велікаму́чанік

a saint who was martyred after suffering great torture


white Christmas slice

en-noun

white Christmas slice (plural white Christmas slices)

This popular white Christmas slice has been given an Aussie flavour and named after the sulphur-crested cockatoo.

2006, R.I.C. Publications, An Aussie Christmas, page 46:

Describe the changes Cophaᵀᴹ (a shortening agent derived from coconut flesh) makes to the mixture when making White Christmas slice.

2008, Lee-Ann Holmes, Rhymes for big rascals, R.I.C. Publications, page 74:

This version is richer and creamier than regular White Christmas slice.

2011, Sally Wise, Leftover Makeovers: Quick and Fabulous Food From Your Fridge and Pantry, unnumbered page:

(Australia, food) A sweet food item made from dried fruits and nuts mixed with copha or white chocolate or similar sweet white binding and allowed to set in a tray to make slices.


Deuterocanon

The books of the Old Testament which are part of the canon of Scripture of a given church but which are not found in the Hebrew Bible.


apostolic visitor

apostolic visitor (plural apostolic visitors)

(Catholicism) In the Catholic Church, a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration and to submit a report to the Holy See afterwards.


Uz

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

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

A region mentioned in the Bible whose exact geographical location is unknown.


zindiq

From Arabic زِنْدِيق (zindīq, “heretic”), itself from Middle Persian 𐭦𐭭𐭣𐭩𐭪 (zandīk).

(Islam, historical, derogatory) In medieval times, a person whose views or practices were considered contrary to Islamic dogma; a heretic or unbeliever, or one who practised heretical magic.


sadospiritual

en-adj

sadospiritual (comparative more sadospiritual, superlative most sadospiritual)

more sadospiritual (comparative)
most sadospiritual (superlative)

From sadistic and spiritual; coined by feminist Mary Daly.

(derogatory) Of or relating to forms of religion with sadistic aspects.


sukuk

Borrowed from Arabic صُكُوك (ṣukūk), plural of صَكّ (ṣakk, “bond, deed”).

(Islam, economics) A bond that generates a return to an investor without infringing Islamic laws against interest.


anicca

three marks of existence
three marks of existence

(Buddhism) Impermanence, the doctrine claiming that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is transient. One of the three marks of existence.

ဢၼိၵ်ႈၸႃႉ

ʼǎ nīk tsâ̰a


Christian Democrat

en-noun

Christian Democrat (plural Christian Democrats)

(politics) A supporter of Christian Democracy.


Gaudete Sunday

From Latin gaudēte (“rejoice”), which is the first word of the Latin-language introit for this Sunday.

(Christianity) The third Sunday in Advent


Sutekh

From Egyptian sw-W-t:x-A40 (swtḫ), a New Kingdom variant of s-t:X (stẖ).

(Egyptian mythology) An ancient Egyptian god, variously described as the god of chaos, the god of thunder and storms, or the god of destruction.


Christian Democratic

en-adj

Christian Democratic (comparative more Christian Democratic, superlative most Christian Democratic)

more Christian Democratic (comparative)
most Christian Democratic (superlative)

Of or pertaining to Christian Democracy or Christian Democrats.

křesťanskodemokratický

of or pertaining to Christian Democracy or Christian Democrats


Christian Democracy

A political ideology incorporating traditional family and church values alongside progressive values, such as welfare. It is closely linked with Roman Catholicism and its philosophy of economic and social justice.

キリスト教民主主義

キリストきょうみんしゅしゅぎ


greatest story ever told

the greatest story ever told (canonical)


lily crucifix

(Christianity) A symbol found in a few Anglican churches in England, depicting Christ crucified on a lily, or holding a lily.


Branch Davidian

en-noun

Branch Davidian (plural Branch Davidians)

A member of a religious group that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidians. They believed that Bible prophecies of a final divine judgment were coming to pass as a prelude to Christ's Second Coming, and were involved in a fatal siege in 1993 near Waco, Texas.


protopriest

(Roman Catholicism) The first cardinal priest in the order of precedence in the College of Cardinals, who has the honour of pronouncing the formal prayer for the new pope at the papal inauguration.

(Eastern Orthodoxy) Synonym of protopresbyter.


Diet of Worms

A diet (a council or assembly) held in Worms, Germany in 1521.


Ashkenazism

Ashkenazi beliefs and practices generally.


Isaian

en-adj

Isaian (comparative more Isaian, superlative most Isaian)

more Isaian (comparative)
most Isaian (superlative)


garbhagriha

Transliteration of Sanskrit गर्भगृह (garbhagṛha).

transliteration

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) The innermost sanctum of a temple, where the murti of the primary deity is found.


congi

From Congress, short for Indian National Congress, a major political party in India.

(India, slang, politics, derogatory) A liberal or a leftist, accused of opposing India, Hinduism, or Hindu nationalism.


Mormondumb

> I think the Eastern side of the world has it up on us westerners in this respect. They do not believe they can actually BECOME Gods. They already are such, but just don't recognize it sometimes.
I think I'll go with that, then. That kina beats out Mormondumb, as you say.

2000 June 19, Xristos, “LDS with reservations”, in alt.religion.mormon (Usenet), retrieved 2022-08-22:

For those like myself who have discovered, after hard search, the falsehood and hypocrisy of mormondumb and christianity the Satanic Bible is now available online at
http://www.bow.org/

2000 December 28, Mormo Pan, “Satanic Bible now online!”, in alt.religion.mormon (Usenet), retrieved 2022-08-22:

That's true. But not once in my 35 years of Mormondumb did I give a bishop the finger, nor did anyone give me one. I guess times are a' changin' down at the Mochurch.

2001 July 10, TheJordan6, “Why are there locks in mormon temples?”, in alt.religion.mormon (Usenet), retrieved 2022-08-22:

Yeah right, as long as you play by your pastor's rules, whatever they happen to be at the time. And don't make too many waves in the congregation. Of course, if you don't get along with a particular church you can just pick another one from the Yellow Pages. (Mormondumb still sux BTW).

2002 April 23, exmo, “Makes No Sense to become a mormon”, in alt.religion.mormon (Usenet), retrieved 2022-08-22:

Yeah, but what could be scarier than the Satanic pagan mind-fuck kult of Mormondumb?

2006 November 3, choking hazard, “INFORMATION ON MORMON UNDERWEAR!”, in alt.religion.mormon (Usenet), retrieved 2022-08-22:

@JesusWife To scare the bejeezus out of treat-or-treaters here in the Mecca of Mormondumb, I'm gonna open the door wearing this t-shirt.

2016 October 31, yanquetino, Twitter, archived from the original on 2022-08-26:

The actions led by Charles Manson was mere child's play when compared to the atrocities carried out by "The Faithful" under the direction of Brigham Young. And this sick fuck is highly revered in Mormondumb. It disgusts me! I'm gonna slap the next motherfucker I see in a Y hat 😈

2021 June 4, h3llakitty, Twitter, archived from the original on 2022-08-26:

Don't tell anyone but underneath the white sheet is Kristin Oaks and underneath the red sheet is Sheri Dew. These thee are the true and living Super Heroins of Mormondumb. This image also captures Wendy Whatsup Nelson drunk on dogma two sheets to the wind.

2022 February 13, HeberSeeGull, “Mormon Female Godhead To Be Revealed At April General Conference Women's Saturday Session”, in Reddit, exmormon, archived from the original on 2022-08-22:

Too funny. I love the way these Mormon cultists refer to the devil, aka Satan, aka Lucifer as “the Adversary”! It’s Mormon-speak. It is the only proper way in Mormondumb. The invisible bogeyman. Christ! If they could only look from the outside at how stupid they look.

2022 May 8, Bacchanalia20, Twitter, archived from the original on 2022-08-26:

(rare, informal, derogatory, offensive) Mormondom, regarded as stupid.


transitional deacon

en-noun

transitional deacon (plural transitional deacons)

(Catholicism) A deacon intending to become a priest and therefore obliged to begin assuming additional responsibilities, such as the recitation of the breviary.


Liturgy of the Hours

(Catholicism) A liturgy for daily use at each of the canonical hours obligatory to all Catholic bishops, priests, and transitional deacons and composed of psalms, hymns, and readings but lacking the eucharist.


ho, ho, ho

A deep, hearty laugh or chuckle, most associated with Santa Claus.

ሆ ፣ ሆ ፣ ሆ

a laugh or chuckle, most associated with Santa Claus


leyn

en-verb

leyn (third-person singular simple present leyns, present participle leyning, simple past and past participle leyned)

leyns (present singular third-person)
leyning (participle present)
leyned (participle past)
leyned (past)

From Yiddish לייענען (leyenen, “to read”).

(Judaism, by extension) to recite the haftarah, megillah or other ritualized text


sun disc

(religion) A disc symbolizing the sun, especially as used as religious symbol in ancient Egypt.


purging place

Originally as a calque or translation of various Latin or Spanish terms.

Is this, said I, the Papists purging place?

1603, Elizabeth Melville, Ane Godlie Dreame, l. 262:

A place where purging occurs, particularly:

(Christianity, now rare) The place where the soul is purged of sin: Purgatory.


Purgatory

(Christianity) An intermediate state after death in which some of those ultimately destined for Heaven must first undergo purification.


yotzei

Borrowed from Yiddish יוצא זײַן (yoytse zayn), from Hebrew יוֹצֵא (yotsé), active participle of יָצָא (yatsá, “to exit”).

In order to be yotzei, you must hear every word of the bracha.

(Jewish law) having fulfilled the requirements of a mitzvah


baal korei

Borrowed from Yiddish בעל קורא (bal koyre), from Hebrew בַּעַל קוֹרֵא (bá'al koré), an alternative of בַּעַל קְרִיאָה (bá'al k'ri'á, literally “master of reading”).

der

בַּעַל קוֹרֵא

(Judaism) The person who reads from the Torah scroll during religious services.

(Judaism) A person who has been trained to read from a Torah scroll.


bracha

en-noun

bracha (plural brachot or brachos or brachas)

brachot (plural)
brachos (plural)
brachas (plural)

Borrowed from Yiddish ברכה (brokhe), from Hebrew בְּרָכָה (b'rakhá).

For a prayer or blessing to qualify as a bracha, it must follow a legal rabbinic formula that begins with the three words “Baruch Atah Adonai,” which is commonly translated as “Blessed (or Praised) are You, My Lord.”

2005, Sara E. Karesh, Mitchell M. Hurvitz, “bracha”, in Encyclopedia of Judaism, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 65:


God's work

He had done God's work by killing a man and would now gladly pay the earthly penalty, because he thought his reward would be in heaven.

2007, Angelo Letizia, The Battle for Existence, page 110:

We go along the walk-ways, among trees, shrubs and flowers. In that world, the buzzing of insects is rife. Once settled, they preen, crawl or sting, as is their wont. Yet they too do God's work.

2014, Terence Park, “The Old House”, in Ice Made and Other Stories, page 87:

His father was one of those delusional souls who believed that making money was doing God's work.

2014, Douglas Preston, The Kraken Project:

"[…] The good book says when we act on behalf of another in need; we are doing God's work.”

2014, Daniel Carnahan, The Manipulator, page 222:

Work in accordance with the will of God.


Kumbh Mela

Borrowed from Hindustani کُن٘بھ میلَہ (kuṉbh mela) / कुंभ मेला (kumbh melā). Related to kumbha and mela.

Kumbh Mela (The Pot Fair) is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage and a religious festival where millions of sadhus, pilgrims, and devotees come for historical ritual bathing at four sites on the banks of Rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Godavari and Shipra, considered sacrad.

2005, Kartar Sing hBhalla, Let's Know Festivals of India, →ISBN, page 7:

Kumbh Mela is the single largest religious congregation or, in fact, human gathering of any kind on Earth.

2010, Badri Narain, Kedar Narain, Christopher N. Burchett, Kumbh Mela and the Sadhus: The Quest for Immortality, →ISBN:

Once every twelve years a great Kumbh Mela takes place, when the propitious timing is amplified many thousands of times over. And, in keeping with the lunar cycles, every twelfth great Kumbh Mela is the 'Maha' -- held ever 144 years.

2013, Tahir Shah, Three Essays: Cannibalism, The Kumbh Mela, The Legacy of Arab Science, →ISBN:

Kumbh Melas are held every 12 years. The last Haridwar Kumbh Mela was held in 2010.

2021 April 20, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, “Kumbh 2021: Astrology, Mortality and the Indifference to Life of Leaders and Stars”, in The Wire, archived from the original on 2021-01-09:

A Hindu festival, held every twelve years at four locations in India, at which pilgrims bathe in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers for purification from sin.


Octoechos

From Ancient Greek Ὀκτώηχος (Oktṓēkhos).

(Christianity) A liturgical book containing a repertoire of hymns ordered in eight parts according to the eight echoi (tones or modes), used in many rites of Eastern Christianity.


lampadarios

(Christianity) Alternative form of lampadarius


typikon

(Christianity) A liturgical book containing instructions about the order of the Byzantine Rite office and variable hymns of the Divine Liturgy.


stavrotheotokion

From Ancient Greek σταυροθεοτοκίων (staurotheotokíōn).

bor

σταυροθεοτοκίων

(Christianity) A hymn to Mary, the Theotokos, that refers to the crucifixion of Christ.


ektenia

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐκτένεια (ekténeia).

bor+

(Christianity) A litany in the Byzantine Rite.


troparion

en-noun

troparion (plural troparions or troparia)

Coordinate term: apolytikion

When awakened, Kyr Avram sits in bed and, as if out of fear, sings troparia and contakia in honor of his ancestors, whom the Serbian church has declared saints.

1988, Milorad Pavić, translated by Christina Pribićević-Zorić, Dictionary of the Khazars, Vintage, published 1989, page 31:

(Eastern Orthodoxy, music) A short hymn of one stanza, or organised in more complex forms as a series of stanzas.


lampadarius

From Latin lampada, from Ancient Greek λαμπάς (lampás, “candle”).

(Christianity) The leader of the second (left) choir of singers in Eastern Orthodox Christianity.


protopsaltis

For the transliteration of the Oriental characters into European notation the musical world is indebted to the care and ability of Mr. Evstratios Pappadopoulos, Protopsaltis of the Church of the Panaghia in Stavrodromion, Pera, Constantinople.

1889, “Byzantine ecclesiastial music”, in The Scottish Review, volume 14, page 279:

In his letter to the parish board, Nikolaos's father complained about the Protopsaltis of the church, who first decreased the salary of his son and then dismissed him from the choir.

2015, Merih Erol, Greek Orthodox Music in Ottoman Istanbul: Nation and Community in the Era of Reform:

The protopsaltai, the domestikoi, and the anagnostai who, according to an old custom, were called kraktai in these festivities and celebrations, stand on platforms made of wood that have been erected on both sides of the nave for this purpose and chant some hymns composed for and suited to these kinds of occasions.

2016, Ruth Macrides, Pseudo-Kodinos and the Constantinopolitan Court: Offices and Ceremonies:

(Christianity) The cantor in charge of the music for a service of the Byzantine Rite.


Telessar

Gozan, Harran, Rezeph, and Telessar were in Mesopotamia. Some other places are not known.

1882, Cunningham Geikie, Rehoboam to Hezekiah, page 454:

Sennacherib mentions it in 2 Kings 19:12 and Isaiah 37:12 when referring to the 'children of Eden, which were in Telessar'; and the possessions of Pharaoh are referred to in Ezekiel 31:9 as extending to Eden.

2013, Caleb L Moore, The Cherubim, →ISBN, page 11:

(biblical) A city mentioned in 2 Kings 19:12 and Isaiah 37:12 as the destroyed city of the "children of Eden".


prokeimenon

Ancient Greek προκείμενον (prokeímenon).

(Christianity) In the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church and Byzantine Rite, a psalm or canticle refrain sung responsorially at certain points of the Divine Liturgy or the Divine Office, usually to introduce a scripture reading.


oikos

(Christianity) Synonym of kontakion (hymn or poem recited as a dialogue)


irmologion

From Ancient Greek εἱρμολόγιον (heirmológion).

der

Although an Irmologion, as its name suggests, is essentially a collection of irmosy or the nine hymns sung during Matins, the earlier Belorussian Irmologia contain in addition all manner of chants from the Holy Liturgy, Vespers and Matins, Festival and Holy Week services, […]

1993, B. Gasparov, Slavic Cultures in the Middle Ages, volume 1, page 331:

(Christianity) A liturgical book containing irmoi for the various canons chanted during the morning service.


idiomelon

(Christianity) A type of sticheron found in the liturgical books used in Orthodox Christianity.


automelon

From Ancient Greek αὐτόμελον (autómelon).

(Christianity) A composition used in Orthodox Christianity to create other hymns, following its melody and rhythm.


Pentecostarion

Ancient Greek Πεντηκοστάριον (Pentēkostárion)

uder

Πεντηκοστάριον

(Christianity) A liturgical book for the Paschal season, used by the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches that follow the Byzantine Rite.


Bright Week

(Christianity) Among Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic Churches, the period of seven days starting from Easter, during which Christ's resurrection is celebrated.


akathist

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ακάθιστος (akáthistos, “unseated, standing”). Attested in the 1850s (as Akathist and Akathistos), after slightly earlier (1830s) German usage.

bor+

(Christianity) A hymn dedicated to a saint, holy event, or person of the Holy Trinity, in Eastern Christian traditions.


synaxarion

Ancient Greek συναξάριον (sunaxárion), from συνάγειν (sunágein, “to bring together”).

(Christianity) A compilation of hagiographies in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, corresponding roughly to the martyrology of the Roman Church.


koukoulion

Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church

(Christianity) A traditional headdress worn by monks of the highest degree in the Eastern Orthodox Church.


boat bearer

(Christianity) A junior altar server in Catholic and Anglican churches, an assistant to the thurifer.


Benedicite

/ˌbɛnəˈdiːt͡ʃɪteɪ/

From Latin benedīcite, a plural imperative of benedīcō (“I bless, I praise”, literally “I say well [of]”).

But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy—casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them—hastily crossed themselves—bent their knee to sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her—kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique—received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; […]

1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 266:

A canticle, the Latin version of which begins with the word benedīcite (“praise ye!”), which may be used in the order for morning prayer in Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.


Flandrian

(religion, historical) A member of a strict group of Mennonites who mostly lived in Flanders.


Flemingian

(religion, historical) Synonym of Flandrian


hierophanical

en-adj

hierophanical (comparative more hierophanical, superlative most hierophanical)

more hierophanical (comparative)
most hierophanical (superlative)

/ˌhɪəɹɒˈfænɪkəl/

We will intend to evaluate, throughout the two consecutive parts of this study, which is to be considered the status at the very same time hierophanical and cosmological, ontological and anthropological, that the notion of Beauty […]

2000, Anales del Seminario de Historia de la Filosofía, volume 17, Madrid: Facultad de Filosofía y Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, →ISSN, abstract, page 77:

(religion, less common) Of or pertaining to a hierophany; hierophanic.


hierophanically

en-adv

hierophanically (comparative more hierophanically, superlative most hierophanically)

more hierophanically (comparative)
most hierophanically (superlative)

From hierophanic + -ally or hierophanical + -ly.

Above all, the mystery cults of the ancient world provided man with a god on which he could have a hold. The god was individuated enough to be a person, born hierophanically by a real bull or goat or pig, physically slaughtered, and physically consumed, or symbolically by means of real substitutes, identified with the forces of nature, […]

1983, Henry O[rrin] Thompson, editor, The Global Congress of the World's Religions: Proceedings, 1980–1982, Washington, D.C.: Global Congress of the World's Religions, →OCLC, page 285:

This disquieting insight may also give rise to the exhilarating possibility that there may be a transcendent realm outside of the physical, visible world of everyday existence, which can periodically manifest itself hierophanically in moments of gnosis.

2007 May, Jeffrey Lamar Howard, Heretical Reading: Freedom as Question and Process in Postmodern American Novel and Technological Pedagogy (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation), Austin, Tx.: University of Texas at Austin, →OCLC, page 98:

Under no circumstance should we be dismissive of spectators and critics who find these films more satisfying, more hierophanically potent or real. Individuals coached into a high-literate mode of textual engagement may be understandably equating quiescence and quietude with the sacramental.

2012, Sheila J. Nayar, The Sacred and the Cinema: Reconfiguring the ‘Genuinely’ Religious Film, London, New York, N.Y.: Continuum, →ISBN:

In this passage, the natural elements hierophanically explicate a display of divine action in Creation and disclose somewhat of the nature of the one God, here with emphasis on God's creative powers and omniscience.

2014, Georgina L. Jardim, Recovering the Female Voice in Islamic Scripture: Women and Silence (Ashgate New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies Series), Farnham, Surrey, Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing, →ISBN:

(religion) In a hierophanic (or hierophanical) manner.


hierophanic

en-adj

hierophanic (comparative more hierophanic, superlative most hierophanic)

more hierophanic (comparative)
most hierophanic (superlative)

/hɪəˈɹɒfənɪk/

Among primitive peoples whatever appears unusual, singular, horrendous, frightening, outside the pattern of habit and social life, becomes transferred into the sphere of the hierophanic. Whatever is in some way 'perfect' is also considered to be hierophanic, […]

1979, S[abino] S. Acquaviva, translated by Patricia Lipscomb, The Decline of the Sacred in Industrial Society, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 28:

To borrow from the vocabulary of the history of religions, cloud seems to have a hierophanic significance; in other words, it is an object that manifests that which is sacred, or contributes to its manifestation. However, the identification of an isolated hierophanic element is not, in itself, interesting.

2002, Hubert Damisch, “Sign and Representation”, in Janet Lloyd, transl., A Theory of Cloud: Toward a History of Painting, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, page 44:

For the Catholic Church, priesthood is the structural mechanism by which the believing community normally gains access to its foundational hierophanic faith-events. By means of the socially constructed hierarchic power invested in it, priesthood accesses, coordinates, and controls hierophanic power. The only authentically religious use of priestly hierarchic power, however, is to produce, disseminate, and maintain the ascetical and mystical means of fostering awareness and submission to the Ultimate Source of hierophanic power: Divine Being.

2002, Richard A. Schoenherr, “Hierarchy and Hierophany”, in David Yamane, editor, Goodbye Father: The Celibate Male Priesthood and the Future of the Catholic Church, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 125:

The tornado could be added to the list. Its characteristics and shape certainly place it in the more hierophanic phenomenon of the sky, for what better metaphor for a tornado than the finger of God, that appendage that links the celestial to the terrestrial?

2008 spring, Patrick J. Crerand, “The Tornadic Impulse in the Short Fiction of Michael Martone and William Gass: A Tornadic Utterance with Criticism”, in The Land of Good Deeds (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation), Lafayette, La.: University of Louisiana at Lafayette, →OCLC, page 4:

Imaginal players are normally from an a-historical realm of "reality." They tend to appear in accounts of hierophanic history rather conventional history. Some people claim to perceive these figures through the creative imagination. And though the existence of imaginal players cannot be verified through scientific methods, they live in the world of meaning of religious people. Imaginal players may be anthropomorphic (with human form), theriomorphic (with animal form), or polymorphic (with multiple forms). For instance, (1) the Hebrew patriarch Jacob wrestled with an angel who looked like a man; (2) A buffalo may appear in the visions of Native Americans performing the Sun Dance; and (3) Hindu Arjuna saw Kṛṣṇa display countless heads and arms in an astounding panoramic vision of "time itself" while in his chariot on the battlefield.

2008, Victoria Kennick Urubshurow, “Approaching Religious Traditions”, in Introducing World Religions, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 22:

(religion) Of or pertaining to (a particular) hierophany; hierophanical.


neoshamanism

en-noun

neoshamanism (countable and uncountable, plural neoshamanisms)

Modern practices that superficially resemble traditional shamanism.


jahilliya

From Arabic جَاهِلِيَّة (jāhiliyya, “ignorance”).

bor

(Islam) A pre-Islamic period of ignorance and darkness.


Zaynab

Arabic زَيْنَب (zaynab, literally “fragrant flower”).

uder

(Islam) The daughter of the prophet Muhammad.

(Islam) The granddaughter of the prophet Muhammad.


legicide

The overturning or destruction of a law, or (Judaism) of the law as set out in the Torah.


multidogmatic

Of, or involving more than two religions or personal beliefs.


nunc stans

Borrowed from Latin nunc (“now”) + stāns (“staying, remaining”).

But they will teach us that eternity is the standing still of the present time, a nunc-stans, as the schools call it; which neither they nor any else understand, no more than they would a hic-stans for an infinite greatness of place.

In other words, at the point where the infinite past and the infinite future collide into the present of a nunc stans they spark into existence, as it were, the mental phenomenon of a timeless present which overcomes all ordinary time constructions.

2009, Patricia Bowen-Moore, Hannah Arendt’s Philosophy of Natality:

In its radical transcendence of all finite states the subject enters into the space of a nunc stans, in the face of which all temporality becomes an unreal appearance.

2005, Robert Spaemann, Happiness and Benevolence:

(Christianity, philosophy) Eternal existence as an attribute of God.


marjaiya

Borrowed from Arabic مَرْجِعِيَّة (marjiʕiyya)

bor

مَرْجِعِيَّة

The role of the marjaiya is to be the protector of the rights of society.

2015 November 1, Tim Arango, “In Bid to Counter Iran, Ayatollah in Iraq May End Up Emulating It”, in New York Times:

(Islam) The supreme religious body of ayatollahs in Shi'ism.


Vellish

Borrowed from Yiddish וועליש (velish). Doublet of Welsh.

(Judaism) The most common typeface for printed Hebrew, and the Sephardi Stam script from which the typeface is derived.


minhag

My family's minhag is to sit while saying kiddush.

The Persian Jews have a Passover minhag to beat each other with vegetables when singing Dayenu.

In the Polish rite the refrain only is said, while the Western German and Minhag of Posen recite the entire poem.

1996, Macy Nulman, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer, page 300:

(Judaism) a longstanding religious custom or tradition that is not required by Jewish law


Sigd

(Judaism) A holiday of the Beta Israel Ethiopian Jews, celebrated on the 29th day of Cheshvan.


musnad

Arabic مُسْنَد (musnad), passive participle of أَسْنَدَ (ʔasnada, “support, evidence”).

Alternative form of musnud (ceremonial seat or throne)


Dancer

A Visit from St. Nicholas
Santa Claus's reindeer

From dancer.
(reindeer): First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”


Prancer

First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. From prancer.


Vixen

First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. From vixen.


Comet

First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. From comet.


Conservadox

(Judaism) adhering to a form of Judaism that holds a middle ground between Orthodox and Conservative, chiefly in North America


Dasher

From dasher.
(reindeer): First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”.


Hesychasm

The religious practices of the Hesychasts.


Nergal

From Sumerian 𒀭𒄊𒀕𒃲 (ᵈGÌR-UNUG-GAL /nergal/).

(Mesopotamian mythology) A deity worshipped throughout ancient Mesopotamia, associated with war, pestilence, and the Sun.


thunder cross

The swastika, especially in Latvian contexts.


midrashist

(Judaism) One who writes a commentary on the Midrash.


hamotzi

The challah is more than half oat flour by weight, so it's ready for hamotzi tonight!

(Judaism) A brief prayer recited before consuming bread.


Haftarah

en-noun

Haftarah (plural Haftarot or Haftaros or Haftarahs or Haftaroth)

Haftarot (plural)
Haftaros (plural)
Haftarahs (plural)
Haftaroth (plural)

/həfˌtɑːˈɹɑː/

/həfˈtɔː.ɹə/

From Hebrew הַפְטָרָה (haftará), also through Yiddish הפֿטרה (haftore).

Recent scholars, on the other hand, without much show of reason, as it would appear, variously hold the Haftarah to have sprung from the sermon or homiletic exercise which accompanied the reading in the Pentateuch, and took its exordium (as Haftarah, by an extraordinary linguistic passage, adapted in a manner to the Mosaic text under consideration; or, again, they imagine the Haftarah to have taken its rise spontaneously during the exile itself, and that Ezra retained and enforced it in Palestine.

1874, Literary Remains of the Late Emanuel Deutsch, page 320:

(Judaism) A selection from the books of Nevi'im and Ketuvim of the Tanach, usually corresponding to the week's parashah, publicly read in synagogue following the parashah.


machloket

From Hebrew מחלוקת / מַחְלֹקֶת.

he-m

מחלוקת / מַחְלֹקֶת

The answer to every question is “there is a machloket about it.”

(Judaism) a halachic dispute, disagreement


Commander of the Faithful

Calque of Arabic أَمِير الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (ʔamīr al-muʔminīna)

calque

أَمِير الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

(Islam) Arabic title of caliphs and other independent sovereign Muslim rulers who claim legitimacy from a community of Muslims.


annaprashana

From Sanskrit अन्नप्राशन (annaprāśana). See also annaprasan.

(Hinduism) A Hindu rite of passage marking an infant's first intake of food other than milk.


Mordecai

Borrowed from Hebrew מָרְדֳּכַי (mordocháy).

bor+

(biblical) One of the main personalities in the Book of Esther. He adopted and raised his cousin Esther and foiled a plot to assassinate the king.

مَرْدْخَاي

a Biblical character in the Book of Esther


diyya

en-noun

diyya (countable and uncountable, plural diyat)

(Islam) A financial compensation paid, under sharia law, to the victim or their heirs in cases of homicide, bodily harm, or property damage (in some cases the victim side must accept this payment, while in others it can insist on talion instead).


midsphere

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-midsphere.wav

This celestial river (Nadī) transforms into [the] terrestrial one (sindhu) after falling from heaven (midsphere) in the form of rain-drops.

2003, Ravi Prakash Arya, New discoveries about Vedic Sarasvatī, page 22:

The smoke emitted by a burnt solid being vikāra of gaseous water, experiences upward acceleration to join the midsphere water.

2005, Vishveshvaranand Indological Journal, volumes 43-44, page 48:

The whole universe of these deities in divided in three spheres— earth, midsphere and sky.

2009, Śaśi Tivārī, Alka B. Bakre, editors, Contemporary world order: a Vedic perspective, World Association for Vedic Studies, India Conference, page 173:

(religion, Vedic mythology, uncountable) A supposed realm between earth and heaven.


qisas

(Islam, law) Under sharia law, the principle of retaliation in kind, or retributive justice.


patriology

From Ancient Greek πατέρας (patéras, “father”) + -logy.

uder

(Christianity, theology) A discipline of Christian theology, involving the study of God the Father as revealed in Scripture.


sehar

Food blogger and doctor, Wasim M Mohindeen adds, "I try and stay away from spices during the sehar (the meal before dawn).

2016 June 16, “Fast and feast responsibly this Ramadan!”, in The Times of India:

(India, Islam) Alternative form of suhur


Uzzah

(Judaism) An Israelite, mentioned in the Tanakh, who touched the Ark of the Covenant to steady it while it was being conveyed in a cart, and was immediately killed.


walima

(Islam) The marriage banquet held as part of an Islamic wedding.

velime

(Islam) the marriage banquet held as part of an Islamic wedding


cherem

en-noun

cherem (countable and uncountable, plural cherems)


herem

herem (countable and uncountable, plural herems)

Transliteration of Hebrew חֵרֶם (ḥērem). Doublet of haram.

Mr Raz said he was fired from his job at the settlement council six months ago because of his involvement in the campaign and a rabbi placed him in "herem", an ancient religious practice requiring that a wayward person be ostracised.

2006 March 23, Chris McGreal, “Settlers don't know when the knock on the door will come and they have to leave”, in The Guardian:

(Judaism) The exclusion of a person from the Jewish community.


latreutic

Borrowed from Ancient Greek λατρευτικός (latreutikós, “servile”).


spermatophagy

It should then come as no surprise that, prior to his revelations on spermatophagy, Le Clément could have been a very prominent figure on both. At the same time, the idea of spermatophagy, wherever it was coming from, was as radical departure from the kind of arguments advanced in those circles, and, but for a few interesting exceptions, led to a general condemnation of Le Clément and the end of his personal career as a public figure. It just went too far.

2010, Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Hidden Intercourse: Eros and Sexuality in the History of Western Esotericism:

Let us pause for a moment and summarize this ritual in less outraged tones: we note the practice of owning their women in total community; agapes or orgies during which transient couples make love indiscriminately (it goes without saying that no sentimental choice is involved in these acts which are, let us repeat, conceived of as an ascetic discipline); the practice of coitus interruptus to avoid impregnation and in order to collect the sperm; finally, the consecration of the sperm which is transsubstantiated into the body of Christ and the Eucharist, in other words, spermatophagy.

There are no Borborians there, no obvious instances of spermatophagy; instead we have a tragic Sophia related directly to the struggle of the soul in the world.

2015, Tobias Churton, Gnostic Mysteries of Sex: Sophia the Wild One and Erotic Christianity:

(Christianity) The idea promulgated by Georges Le Clément de Saint-Marcq that the Eucharist involved the consumption of sperm.


greyfriar

From grey + friar, from the grey habit worn by the Conventual Franciscans.

(Catholicism) Synonym of Franciscan: a member of the Order of the Friars Minor.


Wakanda

Most likely borrowed from Omaha-Ponca Wakanda, Chiwere Wakanda, Kansa Wakanda, Osage Wakanda.

The supreme being or Great Spirit of the Osage, but also Omaha, Caddo and Ponca peoples of North America.


Zamzam

An Islamic holy well in Mecca, supposed to have been miraculously generated by Allah when Abraham's infant son Ishmael was crying for water.


Purif

Purification Rundown
Purification Rundown


Purification Rundown

en-noun

Purification Rundown (plural Purification Rundowns)

(Scientology) A detoxification program used by the Church of Scientology, involving exercise, vitamins, and long periods in a sauna, and supposed to treat long-term effects of drug abuse or exposure to toxins.


prayer meeting

(religion) a meeting held for the purpose of offering prayers.


soulishly

en-adv

soulishly (comparative more soulishly, superlative most soulishly)

more soulishly (comparative)
most soulishly (superlative)


Lag B'Omer

/ˈlɑːɡ bəˈoʊmɚ/

From Hebrew לַ״ג בָּעֹמֶר (la"g ba'ómer, literally “the 33rd of the Omer”).

der

לַ״ג בָּעֹמֶר

(Judaism) The 33rd day of the Omer, celebrated as a holiday


gandharva

Borrowed from Sanskrit गन्धर्व (gandharva).

(Indian mythology) A spirit, usually depicted as a singer or musician.

(Buddhism) A being in the intermediate state between death and rebirth.


sadhaka

(Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism) A person who follows a particular sadhana, or goal-directed spiritual practice.


conciliarly

The book had been condemned by certain authorities connected with the Council, but had not been condemned conciliarly.

By a council, especially an ecclesiastical council.


moaner's bench

(Christianity) A bench in a church for people who regard themselves as sinners and are waiting for the Holy Spirit to enter them.


Jeconiah

From Latin Iechonias, Ancient Greek Ἰεχονίας (Iekhonías), from Hebrew יְכָנְיָה (y'khonyá).

(historical, biblical) An ancient king of Judah, the son and successor of King Jehoiakim, who was dethroned by the King of Babylon in the 6th century BC and taken into captivity.


Vamachara

The Dakshinacharas emphasised the male principle while the Vamacharas paid more attention to the female principle. But, both exalted sex to a religious principle.

1967, K. Damodaran, Indian Thought: A Critical Survey, page 235:

Above all, in the medley of Aryans, Mongols and aborigines, which it created, it unconsciously led the way to some of the hideous Vamacharas.

1993, Venkateswarier Subramaniam, Buddhist-Hindu Interactions: From Śakyamuni to Śankarācarya, page 73:

The Vamacharas follow texts like Kularnava, Kamika, and the Parasurama agamas among others.

2009, V. R. Parthasarathy, Indu Parthasarathy, Devi: goddesses in Indian art and literature, page 65:

(religion, tantric religion) A follower of the vamachara path.


akh

Their abode is heaven; and the Akh, by contrast with the Ba, does not retain any relation to the body.… It is a deceased, a transcendent being, without earthly or material ties; and, as such, it is the most spiritualized of the various concepts of the dead.

1948, Henri Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods: A Study of Ancient Near Eastern Religion as the Integration of Society and Nature, page 64:

After spending the night asleep in their tombs, the akhs would wake each morning at sunrise and “come forth from the necropolis” to enjoy an ideal life, free from the cares of physical existence.

2000, James P. Allen, Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, page 33:

The akh would later become the state achieved when the ba and ka are rejoined.

2005, Gary A. Stillwell, Afterlife: Post-Mortem Judgments in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece, page 118:

If a person’s ka and ba were not reunited and akh failed to develop, then everlasting life would not occur.

2009, Janet Balk, “Egyptian Perceptions of Death in Antiquity”, in Clifton D. Bryant, Dennis L. Peck, editors, Encyclopedia of Death and the Human Experience, page 399:

Different postmortem aspects of the individual are mentioned in ritual texts, so that it is unclear how they relate to one another: the ka (what leaves the body when death occurs), the ba (the personality of the individual), and the akh (a glorified bodily form).

2015, “Afterlife”, in Eric Orlin, editor, Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, page 17:

In Egyptian mythology, (roughly) a spirit of the dead that has successfully completed its transition to the afterlife.


akh

Borrowed from Arabic أَخ (ʔaḵ, “brother”). Doublet of ock.

(Islam, MLE, MTE, slang) Brother; a close male friend or associate.


vamachara

en-noun

vamachara (countable and uncountable, plural vamacharas)

/'vɑːmɑːtʃɑːrə/

From Sanskrit वामाचार (vāmācāra, “left (-hand) path; left-handed attainment”).

der

The other vamachara does indeed exist here with all its objectionable practices, in the name of the worship of innumerable petty female deities such as Mariyamman.

1977, Saiva Siddhanta, volume 12, page 65:

2002, Vamachara, entry in James G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N-Z, page 736,
Within the tantric tradiion itself there is a long-standing debate about the propriety of such acts, and whereas the vamachara practice uses these elements in their actual forms, in the dakshinachara ("right-hand") practice other items are substituted for the forbidden ones.

She also predicted the tantric sadhanas I would do in the future, both vamachara and dakshinachara.
‘Vamachara? I have no such plan, Mother.’
'You will have to do lata sadhan, mahacheen kram, kaulik sadhana and mahamudra.'
She laughed, for she had just named sadhanas that required a female consort.

2014, Om Swami, If Truth Be Told: A Monk's Memoir, unnumbered page:

(religion, tantric religion) A path to bliss through practices, including meat-eating, breaking social taboos and indulging in sex and intoxicants, that are sometimes considered immoral.


staurolatry

(Christianity) idolatrous worship of the cross or crucifix


sahih

bor

Arabic صَحِيح (ṣaḥīḥ)

(Islam) authentic: said of a hadith that has been preserved and transmitted accurately


mustahabb

Borrowed from Arabic مُسْتَحَبّ (mustaḥabb, “recommended”), passive participle of اِسْتَحَبَّ (istaḥabba, “to deem recommended”).

(Islam) Of an action, in religious terms: recommended, favourable, virtuous.


staurogram

From stauro- + -gram. Coined c. 1970 as a parallel of Christogram, earlier (1870s) the τρ ligature was referred to as monogrammatic cross. German Staurogramm in the same sense possibly slightly earlier (1960s); the German word was used earlier (1840s) only in the sense of a geometric configuration in crystallography; similarly, New Latin Staurogramma before 1970 only as systematic name of a genus of Bacillariophyceae (L. Rabenhorst, 1853).

σταυρός σταυρός

σταυρόω σταυρόω

A ligature, ⳨, of the Greek letters τ and ρ or Coptic letters ⲧ and ⲣ, later used as a symbol of the cross in early Christianity and remaining in use as a ligature in abbreviations of the words σταυρός and σταυρόω.


Tengri

Borrowed from a Turkic language; ultimately from Proto-Turkic *teŋri (“sky, heaven, god”). Compare Turkish tanrı (“god”).

der

(Turkic mythology) The chief deity of various historic pagan Turkic peoples.


Tengrism

/ˈtɛŋ(ɡ)ɹɪzəm/

A Central Asian religion characterized by features of shamanism, animism, totemism, both polytheism and monotheism, and ancestor worship. It was the state religion of the six ancient Turkic states.


Ruism

Partial calque from Mandarin 儒教 (rújiào, “Confucianism”): Mandarin 儒 (rú) + -ism.


Marianismo

The concept, found in Latin American folk culture, that a virtuous woman should emulate the Virgin Mary in piousness, sexual purity, modesty, etc.


Marianism

The veneration of the Virgin Mary, especially in the Roman Catholic Church.


gros bon ange

The gros-bon-ange is the metaphysical double of the physical being, and, since it does not exist in the world of matter, it is the immortal twin who survives the mortal man.

1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 26:

In voodoo, one of the dualistic aspects of the soul, responsible for basic biological functions such as blood flow and breathing.


ti bon ange

From Haitian Creole, from French petit bon ange (“little good angel”).

Indeed it is characteristic of the almost anonymous, transcendent, spiritual nature of the ti-bon-ange that it is automatically liberated at the moment of death and hovers over the body for nine days before ascending to heaven.

1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 44:

Throughout this period the ti bon ange is extremely vulnerable, and it is not until it is liberated from the flesh to descend below the dark abysmal waters that it is relatively safe.

1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 182:

For them, the act of zombification is a matter of capturing the ti bon anj and thus exerting an absolute power over the individual.

1995, Laënnec Hurbon, in Cosentino (ed.), Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, South Sea International Press 1998, p. 192

Here we begin to see that there is a cooperative relationship between the tibonanj and the gwobonanj.

2013, Carol P. Marsh-Lockett, Elizabeth J. West, editors, Literary Expressions of African Spirituality, page 103:

In voodoo, one of the dualistic aspects of the soul, responsible for personality, character, and willpower.


Kartikeya

Borrowed from Sanskrit कार्त्तिकेय (kārttikeya).

bor+

(Hinduism) A son of Shiva and Hindu god of war.


wellah

He cast out the demons of possessed persons, and he bound the jân, wellah, in yonder corner.

1888, Charles Montagu Doughty, Travels in Arabia Deserta:


bhikkhuni

Transliteration of Pali bhikkhunī, from Sanskrit भिक्षुणी (bhikṣuṇī).

Coordinate term: bhikkhu


Western Christian

Western Christianity
Western Christianity

(religion, Christianity) Of or pertaining to Western Christianity.


Western Christian

en-noun

Western Christian (plural Western Christians)

Yet there is inadequate understanding among Western Christians of their own native cultural context.

2001, Paul Spickard, Kevin M. Cragg, Gordon William Carlson, A Global History of Christians: How Everyday Believers Experienced Their World, page 343:

Theological squabbles had begun to affect denominational mission boards by the early 1920s, but among advocates of missions to Muslims, older models assuring Western Christians of Islam's eventual collapse remained dominant.

2009, Thomas S. Kidd, American Christians and Islam: Evangelical Culture and Muslims from the Colonial Period to the Age of Terrorism, page 75:

To the east of Christendom lay another Christian society, one that Western Christians regarded as heretical. The Orthodox, sometimes called the Eastern Orthodox, Church did not recognize the authority of the pope, as Western Christians did.

2013, Michael Burger, The Shaping of Western Civilization, unnumbered page:

(religion, Christianity) An adherent of any form of Western Christianity; a member of a society based on Western Christianity.


jann

jann (plural janns or jinnan or jawan or jinn or jinnah or genies or genii)

janns (plural)
jinnan (plural)
jawan (plural)
jinn (plural)
jinnah (plural)
genies (plural)
genii (plural)

(Islam) The father of the jinn preceeding humanity.


Urius

From the Latin Urius, derived from the Greek Οὔριος (Oúrios), itself derived from οὖρος (oûros, “fair wind”).

It was by you that the temple of Jupiter Urius, the most ancient and the most venerated of all the temples of the barbarians, was plundered.

1891, M. Tullius Cicero, translated by Charles Duke Yonge, Against Piso:

Signia ... was celebrated for its temple of Iupiter Urius...

1898, Harry Thurston Peck, transl., Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities:

A rare epithet of the Roman god Jupiter.


Ashwatthama

From Sanskrit अश्वत्थामन् (aśvatthāman).

(Hinduism) A hero in Mahabharata; son of Drona.


de-Islamize

en-verb

de-Islamize (third-person singular simple present de-Islamizes, present participle de-Islamizing, simple past and past participle de-Islamized)

de-Islamizes (present singular third-person)
de-Islamizing (participle present)
de-Islamized (participle past)
de-Islamized (past)

(transitive) To deprive of its Islamic character, or remove the Islamic aspect of.


Yadava

(Hinduism) An ancient Indian people who believed themselves to be descended from Yadu.


Shalya

From Sanskrit शल्य (śalya, “dart, javelin, lance, spear, iron-headed weapon, arrow”).

uder

(Hinduism) The brother of Madri (mother of Nakula and Sahadeva), as well as the ruler of the Madra kingdom in the Mahabharata.


Vibhishana

Borrowed from Sanskrit विभीषण (vibhīṣaṇa).

(Hinduism) A king of Lanka in the legendary epic Ramayana. He was the younger brother of the Rakshasa (demon) king Ravana of Lanka.


kiruv

(Judaism) religious outreach work by Orthodox Jews


Omphalos hypothesis

Named after the 1857 book Omphalos by Philip Henry Gosse, in which it was argued that, in order for the world to be "functional", God must have created the Earth with mountains, canyons, trees, etc. The word Omphalos comes from Ancient Greek ὀμφαλός (omphalós, “navel”), an example of one such feature putatively needed for completion.

(creationism) The proposition that God created the universe within the past few thousands of years but also introduced false evidence that the universe is of great age.


Abhidharma

Borrowed from Sanskrit अभिधर्म (abhidharma, literally “higher dharma”).

bor+

(Buddhism) Ancient Buddhist texts, dating from the 3rd century BCE onward, that contain detailed scholastic reworkings of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist sutras, according to schematic classifications.


noncommunicant

(religion) One who is not a communicant.


Qadeshtu

A putative Canaanite goddess. Her Egyptian equivalent is Qetesh.


Shurpanakha

From Sanskrit शूर्पणखा (śūrpaṇakhā); ultimately from शूर्प (śūrpa, “winnowing fan”) + नख (nakha, “nail”).

(Hinduism) The sister of Ravana in the Hindu epic Ramayana.


Vinayaka

Borrowed from Sanskrit विनायक (vināyaka).


Heramba

From Sanskrit हेरम्ब (heramba, “buffalo”).

(Hinduism) A form of the Hindu god Ganesha.


Ekadanta

From Sanskrit एकदन्त (ekadanta, “one-toothed”); ultimately from एक (eka, “one”) + दन्त (danta, “tooth, tusk”).


Didache

From Ancient Greek διδαχή (didakhḗ, “teaching”).

uder

Ever since its first publication at the end of the nineteenth century, Didache has attracted scholars because of its—in many ways—unique form and content.

2008, Jürgen Zangenberg, “Reconstructing the social and religious milieu of the Didache: observations and possible results”, in Hubertus Waltherus Maria van de Sandt, Jürgen Zangenberg, editors, Matthew, James, and Didache: Three Related Documents in their Jewish and Christian Settings, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, →ISBN, page 44:

(Christianity) An early Christian treatise, written in the first or second century AD. and published in the 19th century.


Hirschian

en-adj

Hirschian (comparative more Hirschian, superlative most Hirschian)

more Hirschian (comparative)
most Hirschian (superlative)

By 1900, many of the young who grew up in the Hirschian community had dropped out and even among those who remained committed, their religious observance was rather formalistic and arid.

2006 February 28, YM, “Rabbi Wein on Robert Auman and parshas Vayishlach”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated (Usenet):

Of or relating to Samson Raphael Hirsch (born 1808), German rabbi, his theology, or his school of disciples.


sword drill

The Bible has often been referred to as the Christian's "sword".

(Christianity) A competitive exercise in which children are given the name and number of a Bible verse and race to be the first to locate it in the book


saffron terror

From the symbolic use of the saffron colour by Hindu nationalist organisations.

Acts of terrorism motivated by Hindu nationalism.


plague cross

(historical) A stone structure set up outside the established market areas in time of plague, allowing town and country dwellers to trade with one another while supposedly minimising the risk of contagion.


kinnah

(Judaism) Any of the dirges or elegies traditionally recited by Jews on Tisha B'Av to mourn the destruction of both the First and Second Temple in Jerusalem and other tragedies in Jewish history, including the Crusades and the Holocaust.


mushbooh

(Islam) Of food: neither obviously haram nor obviously halal, thus doubtful or suspect in terms of whether Muslims are allowed to consume it.


sign of contradiction

en-noun

sign of contradiction (plural signs of contradiction)

(theology) In Catholic theology, someone who, upon manifesting holiness, is subject to extreme opposition, traditionally supposed to point to the presence of the divine.


dhabihah

From Arabic ذَبِيحَة (ḏabīḥa, “slaughtered animal”).

bor

(Islam) The prescribed Islamic method of ritual slaughter of animals to produce halal meat, consisting of a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the throat, cutting the jugular veins and carotid arteries of both sides but leaving the spinal cord intact.


makruh

en-adj

makruh (comparative more makruh, superlative most makruh)

more makruh (comparative)
most makruh (superlative)

(Islam, fiqh) Not haram, but disliked or offensive, such that a person will be rewarded for avoiding it.


presanctified

(Christianity) Sanctified in advance: applied to the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, a liturgical service of the Byzantine Rite, performed on the weekdays of Great Lent wherein communion is received from Gifts (the Body and Blood of Christ) that are consecrated in advance.