protology

en-noun

protology (countable and uncountable, plural protologies)

From Ancient Greek πρωτολογίᾱ (prōtologíā). By surface analysis, proto- + -logy.

And hence the progress of the history of salvation is the progress of protology in the progressive development of its starting-point.

1975, Karl Rahner, Encyclopedia of Theology: A Concise Sacramentum Mundi, →ISBN, page 320:

The Chalcedonian defender of thoroughgoing aphtharsia, driven into a corner, now seeks refuge in protology, that is, in referring to the original condition of Adam in Paradise, with whom he compares Christ.

1995, Aloys Grillmeier, Theresia Hainthaler, Christ in Christian Tradition, →ISBN, page 226:

Our task, in what must necessarily be a longer section than those previous, will be first to explore the eschatological dimension of the protological image, then to show how these dual dimensions of protology and eschatology ground Irenaeus' focus on history and salvation as 'recapitulation'.

2009, M. C. Steenberg, Of God and Man: Theology as Anthropology from Irenaeus to Athanasius, →ISBN:

(theology) The branch of theology pertaining to origins and first things.


premove

en-verb

premove (third-person singular simple present premoves, present participle premoving, simple past and past participle premoved)

premoves (present singular third-person)
premoving (participle present)
premoved (participle past)
premoved (past)

Let it be assumed, then, that God does premove earthly phenomena, and let the further very obvious supposition be also made that He does not desire this premovement to be a visible and palpable fact.

1867, William George Ward, Essays on the Philosophy of Theism: Supplementary remarks on freewill, volume 2, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co., published 1884, page 187:

(philosophy, theology, rare) To incite or cause someone to do something.


yakshini

From Sanskrit यक्षिणी (yakṣiṇī, feminine of यक्ष (yakṣa)).

bor

There is also the Yakshini; who lies in wait for men and arouses their passions, with the ultimate object of delivering them over to demons or of feeding upon them as a vampire.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 202:


presuppositionalist

(theology) Of or pertaining to presuppositionalism.


presuppositionalist

(theology) A supporter of presuppositionalism.


reversalism

en-noun

reversalism (usually uncountable, plural reversalisms)

(philosophy, theology, uncountable) The idea that what is true about the universe is the exact opposite of what a person or group of people believes.


reversalist

(philosophy, theology) Of or pertaining to reversalism or to reversalists.


reversalist

(philosophy, theology) A supporter of the idea of reversalism.


Zadok

Borrowed from Hebrew צדוק (“righteous”).

(biblical) A priest, said to be descended from Eleazar the son of Aaron, who aided King David during the revolt of his son Absalom and was subsequently instrumental in bringing King Solomon to the throne.


retakaful

retakaful (usually uncountable, plural retakafuls)

Reinsurance based on the takaful system of insurance in Islamic law.


numerolatry

His warning would not have been necessary today for we have moved to the opposite pole and risk falling into 'numerolatry', the idolatrous worship of numbers.

1989, F.J.M. Laver, Information Technology: Agent of Change, →ISBN:

René Padilla feels that the “excessive emphasis on numbers” in church growth becomes “numerolatry.”

1998, C. Peter Wagner, Church Growth and the Whole Gospel: A Biblical Mandate, →ISBN:

What is the reason for this numerolatry, the worship of numbers?

2003, Arthur Herzog, The Church Trap, →ISBN:

I have even heard the use of numbers called “numerolatry,” a particularly serious accusation because it implies a form of idolatry.

2008, C. Peter Wagner, The Book of Acts: A Commentary, →ISBN:

My most extreme condemnation was a public affirmation thatIwas committing “numerolatry.” The literal sense of that word isthat I was actually worshiping numbers.

2013, C. Peter Wagner, This Changes Everything (The Prayer Warrior Series): How God Can Transform Your Mind And Change Your Life, →ISBN:


Uriel

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Οὐριήλ (Ouriḗl), from Hebrew אוּרִיאֵל (“God is my light”).

And vnto these things Uriel the Archangel gaue them answere, and said, Euen when the number of seedes is filled in you: for he hath weighed the world in the ballance.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Esdras 4:36:

An archangel in Judaism and Christianity.


Murji'ite

(Islam) A follower of the Murji'ah school of divinity.


mundan

mundan (countable and uncountable, plural mundans)

There are no birth records of when my grandmother was born because most children in the refugee camps died before their mundans, when babies have their heads ritually shaved.

2020, Avni Doshi, Burnt Sugar, Hamish Hamilton, page 70:

(Hinduism) The ceremonial first tonsure of a child's hair.


Murji'ah

(Islam) An early Islamic school of divinity.


Keilah

(Christianity) An ancient city in the lowlands of Judah, mentioned in the Bible. David rescued it from the attack of the Philistines (1 Samuel 23:1-8) but the inhabitants sought to deliver him up to Saul (23:12).


inter-be

en-verb

inter-be (third-person singular simple present inter-is, present participle inter-being, simple past inter-was, past participle inter-been)

inter-is (present singular third-person)
inter-being (participle present)
inter-was (past)
inter-been (participle past)


yellow badge

(historical) A cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments to mark them as Jews in public, especially in Nazi-controlled states during the 1930s and 1940s.


S.J.

Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus#English

(Roman Catholicism) Abbreviation of Society of Jesus. (the Jesuits)


Juturna

(Roman mythology) A goddess of fountains, wells and springs, and the mother of Fontus by Janus.


transcosmic

That shriek, and Noyes’s still-unbroken snore, are the last sounds I ever heard in that morbidity-choked farmhouse beneath the black-wooded crest of haunted mountain—that focus of transcosmic horror amidst the lonely green hills and curse-muttering brooks of a spectral rustic land.

1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 8, in The Whisperer in Darkness:

(science fiction, religion) Across or beyond the cosmos.


there are no atheists in foxholes

In reference to the use of foxholes as a shelter in wartime.

In times of extreme stress or fear, even those who do not believe in a benevolent higher power will hope that one exists.


orarium

(religion) A collection of private devotions.


Judeo-Masonic

of or relating to a conspiracy involving the secret coalition of Jews and Masons

judéo-maçonnique

of or relating to a conspiracy involving a secret coalition of Jews and Masons


Simchat Torah

(Judaism) a Jewish holiday that marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of Torah readings, the celebrations of which include singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls

שִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה

Jewish holiday marking the conclusion of the cycle of Torah readings


simcha

en-noun

simcha (countable and uncountable, plural simchas)

From Yiddish שׂמחה (simkhe), from Hebrew שִׂמְחָה (simkhá, literally “happiness”).

der

Each and every one of these blessings is a reason to be full of simcha.

2001, Moshe Goldberger, 100 Brachos: Counting Your Blessings 100 Times a Day, The Judaica Press, Inc., →ISBN, page 58:

The return to a meaningful and vibrant Judaism, he felt, must contain an ingredient too long denied it. This ingredient was simcha (joy), and it became the cornerstone of the Hasidic movement.

2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 223:

1994, Helping Hands Information Services, It's Your Affair: The Guide to Making a Simcha:

After the wedding, I received a letter from the bride and her family with profuse thanks for enabling them and the Jewish community of Sheboygan to witness and participate in a "wonderful, traditional simcha"

2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 41:

(Judaism, countable) a joyous occasion, celebration


Council of Trent

A Roman Catholic council held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento (Trent) and Bologna, northern Italy, as a response to the Protestant Reformation.


Mouride

(Islam) A member of a Sufi order most prominent in Senegal and the Gambia, and by whom the city of Touba in Senegal is considered holy.


anitya

Transliteration of Sanskrit अनित्य (anitya).


three marks of existence

en-noun

three marks of existence pl (plural only)

Calque of Pali tilakkhaṇa, Sanskrit त्रिलक्षण (trilakṣaṇa).

(Buddhism) Three characteristics of all phenomena: anicca (“impermanence”), dukkha (“suffering”) and anatta (“non-self”).


sehra

(Islam) A prothalamion sung at a Muslim wedding in praise of the groom.


Bhadra

From the feminine of Sanskrit भद्र (bhadrá).

(Hinduism) A goddess of the hunt and one of Shiva's Gana.

(Hinduism) Name of one of the eight principal wives of Krishna.


Bhadrakali

Unadapted borrowing from Sanskrit भद्रकाली (bhadrakālī, “Bhadrakali”).

ubor

(Hinduism) Name of a Hindu goddess in South India.


istinja

bor

اِسْتِنْجَاء

Arabic اِسْتِنْجَاء (istinjāʔ)

(Islam) Ritual cleansing of the urethra or anus after using the toilet.


Vaikuntha

Borrowed from Sanskrit वैकुण्ठ (vaikuṇṭhá).

(Hinduism) The Supreme abode or the celestial home of Vishnu.


Hasid

At Mulberry Central he got off and asked two passing Hasidim for directions to the progressive synagogue.

2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 400:


Vedanga

From Sanskrit वेदाङ्ग (vedāṅga); ultimately from वेद (veda) + अङ्ग (aṅga).

(Hinduism) Name of the six auxiliary disciplines in Hinduism, that has been connected with the study of the Vedas.


Danava

(Hinduism) Name of a race descending from Daksha. They were the sons of Danu, who in turn was a daughter of Daksha. Danu is connected with the waters of heavens and she is probably associated with the formless, primordial waters that existed prior to the creation.


Dharmic

en-adj

Dharmic (comparative more Dharmic, superlative most Dharmic)

more Dharmic (comparative)
most Dharmic (superlative)

From Dharma + -ic, influenced by Sanskrit धार्मिक (dhārmika).


Dharmism

(rare, theology) A belief system, historically originating in South Asia, based on the core concept of dharma.


Black Mass

An enormous number of monks and priests gave themselves up to sorcery, and there was no lack of apostate priests to perform the ceremonies of the Black Mass.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 101:

Generals gathered in their masses / Just like witches at black masses

1970, “War Pigs”, in Paranoid, performed by Black Sabbath:

Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

A ritual, allegedly celebrated by witches, characterized by the inversion of the Traditional Latin Mass celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church.


oneg

Borrowed from Hebrew עונג / עֹנֶג ('óneg, “pleasure”).

(Judaism) A casual festive gathering on Friday night after the first Shabbat meal, usually involving food, singing, dancing, and casual Torah study, fulfilling the mitzvah of enjoying Shabbat.


Tissa

(Buddhism) The name of the 20th of 27 named Buddhas immediately preceding Gautama.


Salafi jihadism

Whether it be the terror of salafi jihadism or the insidious institutional racism of the British National Party, there are those who stand ready to fill the vacuum with a sanitised identity and twisted vision if the silent majority hold back from forging a new identity.

2009, John Sentamu, quoted in The Guardian, 5 April

He seeks to trace the intellectual history of Salafi-Jihadism from its origins in the mountains of the Hindu Kush to the rise of Osama bin Laden to the explosion of jihadism during and after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq until the present day.

2016 November, David Patrikarakos, “Progression through Regression”, in Literary Review:

(Islam) An Islamist ideology calling for a struggle to reclaim what adherents see as the pure, true form of Sunni Islam as exemplified by the first three generations of Muslims.


Rem

(Egyptian mythology) An Egyptian fish god who fertilized the land with his tears.


red-green-brown alliance

en-noun

red-green-brown alliance (plural red-green-brown alliances)

From the colours used by each faction listed in the term. Red is for leftists, green is for Islamists, and brown (as in brownshirts) is for ultranationalists.

(politics) An alliance of leftists, Islamists, and ultranationalists.


trination

(Catholicism) In the Catholic Church, the offering up of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass three times on the same day by the same celebrant.


bination

bination (countable and uncountable, plural binations)

(Catholicism) In the Catholic Church, the offering up of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass twice on the same day by the same celebrant.


waqfed

(Islam) Granted as a waqf, or endowment.


hoplolatry

The shield need not be on the altar; and, if it is, the scene may be one of Pa/fddion-v/orship, or even of mere hoplolatry.

1914, Arthur Bernard Cook, Zeus a Study in Ancient Religion (Greek Mythology), 2Yk8AAAAIAAJ:

Of immediate value is the author's interpretation of the hoplolatry of the Greeks. A weapon does not, of necessity, owe its sanctity to a god, but a case is cited in which a god grew out of a weapon.

1918, Eli Mayer, War and Religion: A Sociological Study (War), ZXRqwkKm1WEC:

We must then clear our minds of all notion that the hoplolatry of the Greeks implies anthropomorphism.

1927, J.E. Harrison, Themis (History), →ISBN:

Cretans may have practised, such as fetishism, hoplolatry, dendrolatry, zoolatry, the cult of celestial bodies, ancestor cult.

1944, Brill, Cretan Religion in Relation to Greek Religion:


Wormwood

en-proper noun

Wormwood (countable and uncountable, plural Wormwoods)

And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 8:10–11:

(Christianity) A star or angel that appears in the Book of Revelation, turning waters bitter and poisonous.


lechayim

(Judaism) "To life": a Jewish drinking toast.


lechayim

There's a little kiddush, and one of the rabbis may wander around with a bottle of mashke if people want to make a little lechaim, but that's about it.

2002 September 30, Jonathan J. Baker, “Drinking on Simchas Torah”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated (Usenet):


antholatry

He thinks he has invariably noticed, that amongst primitive nations, zoolatry has been more in vogue than antholatry.

1838, Moses Mendelssohn, Jerusalem: A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Authority and Judaism (Church and state), DegUAAAAYAAJ:

The present orchido-mania is therefore likely to be a passion of a far more lasting description than the other forms of antholatry which at different periods have swayed the human that is to say the human horticulturist's heart.

1849, Eclectic and Congregational Review, volume 25 (English literature), 9sFKAQAAMAAJ, page 203:


mevushal

/mɪvuːˈʃɑːl/

Borrowed from Hebrew מבושל / מְבֻשָּׁל (m'vushál, literally “cooked”).

he-m

(Judaism, of wine) cooked so as to render it unfit for idolatrous purposes, thereby making it permissible even in the event that it is subsequently handled by a gentile


polyatheist

From poly- + atheist, based on polytheist.

A person who does not believe in multiple gods.


Mama Tata

From Spanish mama tata (“mother father”).

A Christian syncretistic religion, combining Catholicism and animism, found in parts of Panama and popular among the Guaymí people.


volunty

Coined by Robert Fludd from Latin voluntās.

(obsolete) The positive aspect of God, encompassing light, love, creation, etc.


Afro-Baptist

(Christianity) A member of a black Baptist Christian movement.


pudgala

From Sanskrit पुद्गल (pudgala, “body, soul”).

(Jainism) matter (that the world is made of)

(Buddhism) person, individual (constancy across reincarnations)


churchway

From Old English ciricweg, equivalent to church + way.

A customary right of way to the parish church over land lying within the parish.


cosmism

(historical) A philosophical and cultural movement in Russia in the early 20th century, combining elements of religion and ethics with a history of the origin, evolution and future of the cosmos and humankind.


Thanksgivukkah

Blend of Thanksgiving + Hanukkah. Coined for 2013, when the first day of Hanukkah fell on Thanksgiving.

We’re still 24 hours away from Thanksgiving 2012, but it’s never too early to start thinking of next year, right? Apparently not, at least, not for the folks behind Thanksgivukkah. You see, next year Thanksgiving falls on the first night of Hanukkah, and well, “Thanksgiving” + “Hanukkah” = “Thanksgivukkah”. Get it?

2012 November 21, Rafiss, “Well, This Exists: Thanksgivukkah”, in Heeb:

Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah — the Jewish Festival of Lights — fall on the same day this year, creating what many celebrants have dubbed “Thanksgivukkah.” And it’s opened up a whole new world of culinary opportunities.

2013 October 21, Jim Romanoff, “Thanksgiving and Hanukkah — together at the table”, in Houston Chronicle:

The pairing of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah as Thanksgivukkah works so well, it raises the question among us daters -- why not pair up even more things in your life that can benefit you romantically?

2015, Mark Miller, 500 Dates: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Online Dating Wars, →ISBN:

My mother requested that I make sufganiyot" -- Hanukkah jelly doughnuts -- "and did hear that some people are filling them with cranberry jam, which I think is a great idea for Thansgivukkah," Bialik chuckled.

2016, Vance Lehmkuhl, V for Veg: The Best of Philly’s Vegan Food Column, →ISBN:

This recipe is based on one of my contributions to Thanksgivukkah that has lived on past all of that jazz.

2016, Molly Yeh, Molly on the Range: Recipes and Stories from an Unlikely Life on a Farm, →ISBN:

(Judaism, US) A combined celebration of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.


vicar forane

Borrowed from Latin vicārius forāneus. See forane.

(Roman Catholicism) A priest entrusted by the bishop with a certain degree of leadership in a territorial division of a diocese or a pastoral region.


Kalachakra

Borrowed from Sanskrit कालचक्र (kālacakra).

bor+

(religion) The "wheel of time", an element of Vajrayana Buddhism.


state religion

A religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state.


soulwinner

From soul + winner, modelled on soulwinning.


soulwinning

From soul + winning, in allusion to Proverbs 11:30: "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."


Alphaeus

The name of the father of two of Jesus' disciples: Matthew and James, son of Alphaeus. Traditionally identified with Clopas.


Abiathar

(biblical) In the Old Testament, a Hebrew high priest during the reign of King David.


Caiaphas

Borrowed from Latin Caiāphās, from Ancient Greek Καϊάφας (Kaïáphas), from Hebrew קַיָפָא (qayafa).

A Jewish high priest in the first century CE who is said to have organized the plot to kill Jesus.

𐕄𐔰𐔺𐔰𐕢𐔰

A Jewish high priest in the first century CE.


qurbani

Borrowed from Urdu قُرْبَانی (qurbānī), from Classical Persian قُرْبَانِی (qurbānī), ultimately from Arabic قُرْبَان (qurbān).

(Islam) The sacrifice of a livestock animal during Eid al-Adha.


Nuwaubianism

The religious beliefs of the Nuwaubian Nation.


baraminic

(creationism) Of or relating to a baramin.


apobaramin

From apo- + baramin, coined by American creationist Walter ReMine in 1993.

coin

(creationism) A group of similar holobaramins.


holobaraminic

(creationism) Of or relating to a holobaramin.


polybaraminic

(creationism) Of or relating to a polybaramin.


monobaraminic

(creationism) Of or relating to a monobaramin.


monobaramin

From mono- + baramin, coined by American creationist Walter ReMine in 1993.

(creationism) Part or all of a holobaramin; a group of organisms believed to be related to by common descent in baraminology.


holobaramin

From holo- + baramin, coined by American creationist Walter ReMine in 1993.

(creationism) A grouping of all organisms believed to be genetically related to each other in baraminology.


polybaramin

From poly- + baramin, coined by American creationist Walter ReMine in 1993.

(creationism) A grouping of organisms that belong to different holobaramins.


preparationism

(theology) The view, in Christianity, that unregenerate people can take steps (such as praying, or reading the Bible) in preparation for conversion, and should be exhorted to do so.


surau

From Malay surau, possibly from Sanskrit सुरौकस् (suraukas, “abode of the gods”).

musalla

a room where Muslims pray, aside from a mosque

He knew the sound so well he didn't bother to turn his head. It was even more familiar than the sound of the surau’s drum that beat five times a day.

2015, Eka Kurniawan, translated by Labodalih Sembiring, Man Tiger, Verso, page 2:

(Islam) A small mosque or other Islamic assembly building in parts of Sumatra and the Malay peninsula.

The men's surau can be found at the left of the clock store.

(Islam, Malaysia) A small room in any public place where Muslims pray.


kyai

That the santri live in a boarding school where they are being supervised around the clock enhances the power of the kyai.

2012, Charlene Tan, Islamic Education and Indoctrination: The Case in Indonesia, page 56:

It was there that the kyai finally pulled down the cloth, slowly, bracing himself for the shock.

2015, Eka Kurniawan, translated by Labodalih Sembiring, Man Tiger, Verso, page 19:

A Javanese Islamic cleric or expert on Islam.


Amitābha

en-proper noun

Amitābha (usually uncountable, plural Amitābhas)

Amitābha
Five Dhyani Buddhas
Guimet Museum

Borrowed from Sanskrit अमिताभ (amitābha, “Immeasurable Light”), from अमित (amita, “unmeasured, boundless, infinite”) + आभा (ābhā, “splendor, light”).

bor

Devotion to Amitābha Buddha is found within most schools of the Mahāyāna, but is the essence of Pure Land practice, which centres on the ‘Buddha invocation’ (Ch. nien-fo, Jap. nembutsu). This is the repetition of ‘Nan-mo A-mi-t’o Fo’ (Ch.) or ‘Nama Amida Butsu’ (Jap.), translations of the Sanskrit ‘Namo Amitābhāya Buddhāya’, meaning ‘Hail to Amitābha Buddha’.

1990, Peter Harvey, “Buddhist Practice: Devotion”, in An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 187:

"Pure Land Buddhism" refers to a set of beliefs and practices that espouses for its aspirants the realization of the stage of non-retrogression (avaivartika; pu t'ui-chuan) either in the present life or through rebirth in a Buddha land or realm (Buddha-kṣetra; fo-kuo) called "Sukhāvatī" (Land of Bliss). […] The Buddha Amitāyus (Wu-liang-shou; Immeasurable Life) or Buddha Amitābha (Wu-liang-kuang; Immeasurable Light) is the 'transcendant' Buddha who presides over the Sukhāvatī world-realm.

1990, Kenneth K[en'ichi] Tanaka, “Pure Land Buddhist Development in India and China prior to Hui-yüan”, in The Dawn of Chinese Pure Land Buddhist Doctrine: Ching-ying Hui-yüan's Commentary on the Visualization Sutra (SUNY Series in Buddhist Studies), Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 1:

The Shorter Sukhavativyuha Sutra is chiefly concerned with describing the wonders of Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land, although it also discusses in some detail the characteristics of Amitabha himself.

2004, Mark L. Blum, “Mahayana Scriptures”, in Kevin Trainor, editor, Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 202:

Less well recognized, however, is the central role played in much of early medieval Pure Land Buddhism by deathbed practices and accompanying beliefs about the radical salvific power of one's last nenbutsu, whether understood as the contemplation of the Buddha Amitābha (or Amitāyus, Jpn. Amida) or the invocation of his name.

2004, Jacqueline I. Stone, “By the Power of One's Last Nenbutsu: Deathbed Practices in Early Medieval Japan”, in Richard K[arl] Payne, Kenneth K[en'ichi] Tanaka, editors, Approaching the Land of Bliss: Religious Praxis in the Cult of Amitābha (Kuroda Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism; 17), Honolulu, Hi.: University of Hawai‛i Press, →ISBN, page 77:

The overall programme of the Pure Land Hall represents the process of rebirth in Sukhāvatī, and the three standing Amitābhas in the shrine represent the three possible manifestations of Amitābha to the dying believer on earth, which is the beginning of that process.

2007, Amy McNair, “Salvation for One”, in Donors of Longmen: Faith, Politics, and Patronage in Medieval Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, Honolulu, Hi.: University of Hawai‛i Press, →ISBN, pages 151–152:

In East Asia, the cult of Amitābha eventually became so widespread that it transcended sectarian distinction, and Amitābha became the most popular buddha in the region. In Tibet, Amitābha worship dates to the early propagation of Buddhism in that country in the eighth century, although it never became as prevalent as in East Asia.

2013, Robert E[vans] Buswell Jr., Donald S[ewell] Lopez Jr., “Amitābha”, in The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 35, column 1:

(Buddhism) A particular buddha; an artistic depiction of this buddha.

In Pure Land Buddhism, a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism, the name of the principal buddha regarded as of celestial origin.

阿彌陀佛

Pure Land Buddhism: name of the principal buddha

A letter from Mr. [Brian Houghton] Hodgson to Mr. Bayley, was then read, giving an outline of the theocracy of the Buddha system of Nepal. […] According to the information now communicated, the northern Buddhas acknowledge four sets of divine beings, or of superhuman objects of veneration. The first of these is, contrary to the generally supposed atheistical tendency of the faith, one primæval and uncreated deity. This first Buddha manifested five of his attributes, as five secondary Buddhas; in one of whom, Amitabha, or the 'immeasurably splendid,' in Prakrit and Pali, Amitabo, we recognise the Amito of the Japanese.

1827 July, “Asiatic Society of Calcutta”, in The Oriental Herald, and Journal of General Literature, volume XIV, number 43, London: Printed [by J. R. Gordon, 147, Strand] for the editor, and sold by all booksellers, →OCLC, page 147:

In the upper corner, above Mañjushrī's sword, is the figure of the Dhyāni Buddha Amitābha, the 'One of Boundless (or Incomprehensible) Light', of whom the Tashi Lāmas are believed to be incarnations. […] Amitābha presides over the Western Paradise known as Devachān.

2000, “Description of Illustrations”, in W[alter] Y[eeling] Evans-Wentz, editor, The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation: Or the Method of Realizing Nirvāṇa through Knowing the Mind, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page xxi:

In Vajrayāna Buddhism, the name of the western buddha, one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas representing the five qualities of the Buddha.

阿彌陀如來

Vajrayana Buddhism: name of the western buddha

In the period in which Sávarńi shall be the Manu, the classes of the gods will be the Sutapas, Amitábhas, and Mukhyas; twenty-one of each.

1840, “Of the Seven Future Manus and Manwantaras. Story of Sanjná and Chháyá, Wives of the Sun. Sávarńi, Son of Chháyá, the Eighth Manu. His Successors, with the Divinities, &c., of Their Respective Periods. Appearance of Vishńu in each of the Four Yugas.”, in H[orace] H[ayman] Wilson, transl., The Vishńu Puráńa, a System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition, Translated from the Original Sanscrit, and Illustrated by Notes Derived Chiefly from Other Puráńas, London: Published by John Murray, Albemarle Street, →OCLC, page 267:


spirit house

About two metres high, the Spirit House is a small model temple that most Thais have in the garden.

2005, Paul Carter, Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, page 50:

(Southeast Asia) A small house- or temple-like structure mounted on a pillar at which offerings are made to a local deity or protective spirit.


Lewis's trilemma

One version was popularised by the scholar and writer C. S. Lewis.

(theology) An apologetic argument for the divinity of Jesus, claiming that if he was not divine then he must have been either evil or deluded.


aatheist

A weak aatheist is someone who lacks belief in the existence of atheists. A strong aatheist is someone who believes that atheists do not exist. […]
Now. I'm a weak aatheist. That doesn't mean I can't be a theist. I believe my toaster is god. So, I consider myself to be a theist. Most atheist^([sic]) consider me to be a theist when asked off guard. That's because atheists consider "stupid beliefs" to be theisms. So I'm a theist.

1999 August 26, Dr Sinister, “Re: God”, in alt.philosophy.debate (Usenet), message-ID <8E2DF65E7kickass@news.globalserve.net>:

THE LEXICOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THE NON-EXISTENCE OF ATHEISTS
As presented by Electro, strong aatheist...
Of all the self-classified people who baldly assert that they are either "weak" or "strong" atheists, the common banner they march under is the statement "We lack belief in gods."
This claim "the lack of belief in gods" has been equated with atheism so often and so many times, that any serious aatheist must examine the claim carefully and for what it is worth.
Let us look at what the alleged atheist claims about himself. He claims to "lack belief in gods." Now, we all know what the word "belief" means. A belief is the statement of something believed. So, what is believing?
[…]
Atheists do not exist.
QED

1999 September 1, Electro, “Re: Introduction to Aatheism”, in alt.atheism (Usenet), message-ID <19990901121220.08068.00001526@ng-ce1.aol.com>:

[The paragraph below is quoted from http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/godspenman/2010-04-03/it-all-celebration-contradiction — the text below is odin's response.]
"Of course, I do not believe in atheists. I have never met an atheist in my entire life. I have met people who said they were atheists, but I never believed it. Every time an atheist gets in trouble, he blames it on God. Remember 9/11? Now, if he really does not believe in God, why does he blame things on God?"
But Iwould^([sic]) take that up a notch...
Of course, I do not believe in aatheists. I have never met an aatheist in my entire life. I have met people who said they were aatheists, but I never believed it. Therefore, I must be an aaatheist, but I digress. Every time an aatheist gets in trouble, he blames it on an atheist. Remember 9/11? Now, if he really does not believe in atheists, why does he blame things on atheists?

2010 April 4, odin, “Re: Commentary: It is all in the celebration of contradiction”, in talk.origins (Usenet), message-ID <546e1729-c244-4692-ac45-c13b9ce8ccc6@z7g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>:

(informal, humorous) A person who does not believe in the existence of atheists.


Chinese Buddhism

The body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of the Han Chinese.

漢傳佛教

Buddhist doctrine characteristic of the Han Chinese


Ashoka

From Sanskrit अशोक (aśoka, literally “without grief”). Doublet of Ashok and Asoka.

der

(Hinduism) The charioteer of Bhima in the epic Mahabharata.


pure land

A calque of Chinese 淨土／净土 (jìngtǔ) and Japanese 浄土 (jōdo), both meaning "pure land".

(Buddhism) The celestial realm or pure abode of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism.


patriarchal church

en-noun

patriarchal church (plural patriarchal churches)

(Christianity) A church serving as the seat of a patriarch.

(Roman Catholicism) A church in Rome that previously served as the seat for one of the 5 patriarchs during visits to the city, St John Lateran, St Peter’s, St Paul’s outside the Walls, St Mary Major’s, and St Lawrence’s outside the Walls.


evennight

From Middle English *even-night, from Old English efnniht, from Proto-West Germanic *ebnanaht (“equinox”), equivalent to even- + night. Cognate with Old Frisian evennacht, ivinnacht, Old Norse jafnnætti. Compare also Dutch nachtevening (“equinox”).

inh

Ostara's Day is the first Sunday following the Spring Evennight, which means it can never be later than March 31, even when March 24 is the previous Sunday, and the old date is used, March 25, for the beginning of spring.

1992, Stephen A. McNallen, Maddy Hutter, The Runestone - Volumes 1-12:

"I have told the leaders of Kaar that wolves will only come back to the village if a krianan brings them. They are choosing a new krianan at their Spring Festival on Even Night."

2015, Dorothy Hearst, Spirit of the Wolves:

"I'll be there. At the even-night." Five months away.

2016, Victoria Whitworth, Daughter of the Wolf:

Belly round now with the child. Please bring Grandmother to me. The harvest had been gathered less than a month ago and in three days folk would be celebrating the 'even night', the feast of Mabon, when day and night were equal in length, and beer and wine would be drunk in huge amounts in thanksgiving of the safe bringing in of the earth's bounties.

2016, Joanna Courtney, Helen Hollick, Annie Whitehead, 1066 Turned Upside Down:

(rare, historical, Germanic paganism) Equinox.


kovil

Transliteration of Tamil கோவில் (kōvil, “King's residence, temple”). See also Malay kuil.

translit

Aruna went to the Pittsburgh Perumal kovil yesterday.

Though Sri Lanka is predominantly a Buddhist country there are a number of churches, kovils and mosques dotting the towns and countryside.

2004, H. M. Mervyn Herath, Colonial Kollupitiya and Its Environs, page 94:

(Hinduism) A Hindu temple built in a distinct style of Dravidian architecture.


qiyam

(Islam) A form of optional prayer prayed during the night, preceding the ruku.


caliphian

...the cruelty of the passions and the superlative cruelty informing the whole social system. For example, we should not dream of dwelling on the more serious functions of the caliphian eunuchs.

1913, Arnold Bennett, Paris Nights, and Other Impressions of Places and People, page 76:

Nevertheless it was the Mu'tazilite "learned men" who first began to take interest in the foreign learning that was brought to their notice through the encouragement given by the caliphian court to physical and astronomical studies.

1954, Johannes Hendrik Kramers, Analecta Orientalia: Posthumous Writings and Selected Minor Works, page 126:

Of or relating to the caliph, a Muslim political leader.


Nut

Borrowed from Egyptian nwt (“Nut, sky”).

(Egyptian mythology) The goddess who serves as the personification of the sky.


mitpachat

Borrowed from Hebrew מִטפַּחַת (mitpáchat).


Vinata

(Hinduism) One of the wives of Kashyapa and daughter of Daksha.


wombman

From womb (“uterus”) + man, modelled after woman.


JCC

Jewish Community Center
w:Jewish Community Center


JCC

(US) Initialism of Jewish community center.

(Canada) Initialism of Jewish community centre.


chirotony

From Ancient Greek χειροτονίᾱ (kheirotoníā), from χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + -τονία (-tonía) (from τόνος (tónos, “stretching, tension”)).

(religion) The laying on of hands as an ecclesiastical rite


Anglicanize

en-verb

Anglicanize (third-person singular simple present Anglicanizes, present participle Anglicanizing, simple past and past participle Anglicanized)

Anglicanizes (present singular third-person)
Anglicanizing (participle present)
Anglicanized (participle past)
Anglicanized (past)

A report which we strongly suspect has been manufactured by a mock-Orthodox Editor in New-York […] is going the rounds of the Calvinistic prints in town and country. The amount of it is, that about four hundred of the French Clergy have separated themselves from the Roman Catholic Church, and have determined to anglicanize themselves, by taking wives and thus living rather in imitation of a mis-named Reformation, than of the Apostles and their legitimate successors.

1831 March 19, The Jesuit, volume 2, number 29, page 229:

In your attitude towards High Churchmen you are ignoring the breadth and comprehensiveness of the Church of England. […] The Church of England is neither Catholic merely nor Protestant merely, it is both. Some who greatly value the Catholic heritage of this Church, and who do not so value its Protestant heritage, are tempted, we may say, to over-Anglicanize. Others, who greatly value the Protestant heritage, of the Church, and who do not so value its Catholic heritage, are tempted, we may say, to under-Anglicanize.

1911, S. H. Blake, quoting E. C. Cayley, Synod of the Diocese of Toronto, 1911: A Promise Fulfilled, [Ontario?], page 22:

But events were about to happen which were destined to interrupt for some years James’ policy of seeking to strengthen his position by Anglicanising the Scottish Church.

1919, Ninian Hill, The Story of the Scottish Church from the Earliest Times, Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons, →LCCN, page 143:


Akathistos

(religion) An Orthodox, Byzantine hymn sung during Lent.


marbit

(Judaism) The accrued interest on a loan.


Epona

Ultimately from a suffixed form of Gaulish epos (“horse”), from Proto-Celtic *ekʷos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éḱwos.

(mythology) In Gallo-Roman religion, a goddess of fertility and protector of horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules.


rachmones

We all haven’t been lucky enough to have been born Jews, you know. So a little rachmones on the less fortunate, okay?

1969, Philip Roth, “The Jewish Blues”, in Portnoy’s Complaint, New York: Vintage, published 1994, page 75:

Jews are liberals because of rachmones, often translated as compassion, but really so much more.

2009 September 27, “‘Why Are Jews Liberals?’”, in New York Times:


Somnath

From Sanskrit सोमनाथ (somanātha) (सोम + नाथ).

(Hinduism) Name of a Hindu temple in Gujarat, India. It is the first among the twelve jyotirlinga shrines of Lord Shiva.

A male given name from Sanskrit commonly used in India.


Sahadeva

From Sanskrit सहदेव (sahadeva, “with the gods”).

uder

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the fifth and last of the Pandava brothers; son of Madri and Pandu.


najis

(Islam) Ritually unclean, such that contact with it puts a Muslim in a state of impurity.


Palatua

(Roman mythology) The tutelary goddess of the Palatine.


binitarian

/ˌbɪnɪˈtɛəɹiən/

(religion) A proponent of binitarianism.


thanatolatry

They confuse Christianity with a thanatolatry and a dolorolatry, a worship of death and suffering.

2000, William F. May, The Physician's Covenant: Images of the Healer in Medical Ethics (Medical), Westminster John Knox Press:

What is going on here? Has not thanatolatry won the day—and the life? We must make an implied distinction between death as extermination, the stinging death of sin claiming worship dominative, demonic death, and death as, in McGill's words, “communicating expediture.”

2013, Arthur C. McGill, Dying Unto Life: Arthur C. McGill on New God, New Death, New Life (Religion), Wipf and Stock Publishers:

This is thanatolatry, martyropathology or nihilism: when an entire society orients itself in this direction, that society is becoming suicidal.

2006, Laurent Murawiec, “Deterring Those Who Are Already Dead?”, in Hudson Institute:

There is the negative thanatolatry of resisting death at all cost and so bowing before death's domination, before death as extermination.

1984, David Cain, “Cambridge University Press”, in Cambridge:

Following Leo Alexander, Ernest Becker recognized the importance of the Nazi “philosophy of blood and soil which contained the belief that death nourishes life”. In effect, this ancient pagan belief converts death-anxiety into “thanatolatry”, a belief in “death potlatch” by means of which death is thought to mystically replenish life.

2012, Kirby Farrell, “Eschatological Landscape”, in Research Gate, Brill:


psycholatry

Then come into being idolatry, psycholatry, henotheism. Idolotry is the worship of an image only, of a symbol of something else. Psycholatry is the worship, the great reverence paid to the spirit of the departed.

1904, M.C. Alasingaperumal, The Brahmavâdin, volume 9 (Hinduism), Zs8aAAAAYAAJ, page 510:

When, moreover, we call to mind that the spirits of the dead, who at this season leave their graves and hold high revel with the fairies, seem really indistinguishable from the latter, the conclusion irresistibly forces itself upon us, that in the cult paid to the fairy race we have a survival of the worship of departed souls, or psycholatry as it is sometimes called, which is, so far as we know, one of the oldest religions in the world, even if it be not, as many high authorities maintain, the primitive religion of mankind.

1890, W.H. Allen, The National Review, volume 14 (Great Britain), Qik_AQAAMAAJ, page 761:

There is again psycholatry, or the religious reverence paid to the spirits of the dead.

1881, The Church Missionary Review (Missions), f7A_AQAAMAAJ:

Another form of religion called psycholatry holds in reverence the spirit of the departed.

1889, A. Tompkins, The Universalist Quarterly and General Review, volumes 46–47 (Universalism), c2pJAQAAMAAJ:

(religion) The worship of departed souls.


semper virgo

From Latin semper virgo (“ever virgin”).

(Christianity, of Saint Mary) Perpetual virgin. (Refers to the belief that Saint Mary remained a virgin her whole life.)


Holofernes

From Late Latin Holofernēs, Holophernēs, from Ancient Greek Ὀλοφέρνης (Olophérnēs), from Old Persian *Varufarnāh. Compare with Ancient Greek Ὀροφέρνης (Orophérnēs).

a character in the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, an invading general of Nebuchadnezzar, beheaded by Judith.


daughter of Eve

en-noun

daughter of Eve (plural daughters of Eve)

In contrast to Adam and Eve from the Bible.

(idiomatic) Any woman or girl; any female human.


son of Adam

They were at last obliged to consent, and having endeavoured to console their sister, who shed copious floods of tears at the idea of parting with them and spending her days with one of the sons of Adam; and having received their garments, they took leave of her and flew away.

1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 20:

(idiomatic) Any man or boy; any male human.


Jumada II

From Arabic جُمَادَى الآخِرَة (jumādā l-ʔāḵira)

derived

جُمَادَى الآخِرَة

The sixth month of the Islamic calendar.


Dhu al-Qida

From Arabic ذُو الْقَعْدَة (ḏū l-qaʕda).

bor

ذُو الْقَعْدَة

Arabic ذُو الْقَعْدَة (ḏū l-qaʕda)

The eleventh month of the Islamic calendar.


Modekngei

A monotheistic religious movement of Palau, founded around 1915, that fuses Christianity with elements of ancient Palauan customs.


bark mitzvah

(informal) An observance and celebration of a dog's coming of age.


Rabi I

From Arabic رَبِيعُ الْأَوَّل (rabīʕu l-ʔawwal)

uder

رَبِيعُ الْأَوَّل

[H]e wrote the chit for a date after the eleventh Friday, in the month of Rabi-al-awwal, honed his black cane as sharp as a buckwheat seed, and left for home, taking with him all the merchandise he wanted.

1988, Milorad Pavić, translated by Christina Pribićević-Zorić, Dictionary of the Khazars, Vintage, published 1989, page 128:

The third month of the Islamic calendar and birthmonth of Muhammad.


SDAer

Seventh-day Adventist
Seventh-day Adventist#English

(Internet slang, Christianity) A Seventh-day Adventist.


'ismah

Borrowed from Arabic عِصْمَة (ʕiṣma), literally "protection".

(Islam) The concept of incorruptible innocence, immunity from sin, or moral infallibility, ascribed to prophets, imams, and angels.


Morrisite

(historical, Mormonism) A follower of Joseph Morris, the English-born American leader of a schismatic Mormon movement called Church of the Firstborn that expected an imminent Second Coming.


Morrisite

(historical, Mormonism) Pertaining to Joseph Morris, his followers and their beliefs.


crux ordinaria

A cross made of a horizontal beam affixed to a vertical post, used for the execution of criminals during the Roman historical period.


Sujata

Transliteration of Hindi सुजाता (sujātā), etc.

translit

(Hinduism) Name of the daughter of Uddalaka and mother of Ashtavakra.


Hussitism

(Christianity, historical) A religious reform and nationalistic movement of the Bohemian Reformation, based on the teachings of Jan Hus.

husitství

religious reform movement of the Bohemian Reformation


tahaarah

Transliteration of Arabic طَهَارَة (ṭahāra).


ordo salutis

(theology) A series of conceptual steps within the Christian doctrine of salvation.


Raya

I will be back home for Raya.

Raya traffic jams, Raya makeover

Hari Raya Aidilfitri
Hari Raya Aidilfitri#English

(Malaysia, informal) Ellipsis of Hari Raya Aidilfitri., Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim festival that marks the end of the Ramadan fast.


author of life

ôʹthərəvlīfʹ

/ˈɔːθəɹəvˈlaɪf/

Calque of Late Latin auctor vītae (literally “the originator or cause of life”): “life” understood to mean existence simpliciter in the case of God the Father, and to mean the salvation of eternal life in the case of God the Son.

(Christianity) An epithet of God and of Jesus.


Ahalya

Transliteration of Sanskrit अहल्या (ahalyā, “Ahalya”).

(Hinduism) Name of the princess of Puru dynasty and wife of sage Gautama. She was seduced by Indra, cursed by her husband and liberated by Rāma in Ramayana.


Airavata

From Sanskrit ऐरावत (airāvata, “produced from the ocean”).

bor

(Hinduism) Name of the mythological white elephant, mount of Indra.


Akshayapatra

From Sanskrit अक्षय (akṣaya) + पात्र (pātra).

(Hinduism) A magical vessel given to Yudhishthira by the Lord Surya in the Mahabharata.


Alakananda

(Hinduism) Name of the river Ganges (of earth), when it flows through devaloka.


Amba

(Hinduism) Name of the eldest daughter of the king of Kasi in the epic Mahabharata.


Ambika

From Sanskrit अम्बिका (ambikā, “mother, good woman”).

der

(Jainism) One of the female domestic deities.


Mazdayasnian

en-adj

Mazdayasnian (comparative more Mazdayasnian, superlative most Mazdayasnian)

more Mazdayasnian (comparative)
most Mazdayasnian (superlative)

Martínez García, Javier, de Vaan, Michiel (2014) Introduction to Avestan (Brill Introductions to Indo-European Languages; 1), Brill, →ISBN, page XI
The Mazdayasnian creed attained dominance in the Achaemenid (559–336 BCE) and the Sasanian (ca. 224–651 CE) Persian Empire.

Zoroastrian; of or pertaining to the Zoroastrian religion.


gulal

(India, Hinduism) a colored powder often used during the Holi festival.


Anasuya

From Sanskrit अनसूया (anasūyā, “freedom from spite”).

der

(Hinduism) Name of the wife of sage Atri. She had three sons: Dattatreya, Durvasa and Chandra.


Shabazz

From Arabic شَعْب (šaʕb, “a people”) and Arabic عَزّ (ʕazz, “to be mighty or glorious”). Also possibly from Persian شهباز (šahbâz, “royal falcon”), from شاه (shāh, “king”), + باز (bāz, “hawk, falcon”).

(religion) According to Nation of Islam doctrine, an old prophet from Mecca who led his people into Africa.


Angiras

(Hinduism) Name of a vedic hermit born from the mind of Brahma.


Tian

The pinyin romanization of Mandarin 天 (Tiān).

...‘Heaven’ as we use it throughout the book is only a convenient but inaccurate translation of the Chinese character tian. Heaven in Chinese religions as well as in the Confucian tradition has multidimensional implications... In its metaphysical and physical connotation, Heaven... refers to... Nature. Applied in the spiritual realm, it signifies an anthropomorphic Lord or a Supreme Being who presides in Heaven, and rules over or governs directly the spiritual and material worlds.

2000, Yao Xinzhong, An Introduction to Confucianism, page 142:

Supreme being in Chinese philosophy and religion. He rules over lesser gods, humankind, and controls the cosmos. The word Tian may also refer to Heaven. As a god, Tian is often seen as an impersonal power...

2003, Constance Victoria Briggs, The Encyclopedia of God, s.v. "Tian"::

It was not just the sky, but a god with wills and intentions, seen as sovereign of all... In fact, "Tian" was another reverent term to address the supreme god: "Heaven, for the help of the inferior people, made for them rulers, and made for them instructors" ("Great Declaration I" in the Book of History)...

2018, Zhuo Xinping, Religious Faith of the Chinese, page 58:

(Chinese mythology) Synonym of Heaven: simultaneously conceived as the Heavens, Nature, and an anthropomorphic supreme God.


Aruna

en-proper noun

Aruna (countable and uncountable, plural Arunas)

(Hinduism) Son of Kashyapa by Vinata, charioteer of Surya.


Ashtavakra

From Sanskrit अष्टावक्र (aṣṭāvakra, “eight bends”).

bor

(Hinduism) Name of a vedic sage, a disciple of Uddalaka and son of Sujata.


Ayoub

(Islam) Job, one of the prophets mentioned in the Qur'an


Haman

(biblical) A Persian vizier who, according to the Book of Esther, instigated a failed plot to kill all of the Jews of ancient Persia.


dastur

(Zoroastrianism) A Zoroastrian high priest ranking above a mobad or herbad.


sugya

From Aramaic סוגיא (“walking”), same semantic shift as in case with הלכה.

(Judaism) A passage from the Gemara discussing a specific issue in the Mishna.


immanentism

en-noun

immanentism (usually uncountable, plural immanentisms)

While some, like the early Church Fathers, still viewed it as the prison of the spirit, new emphasis came to be placed on the soul's incarceration in the flesh, the doctrine of immanentism.

1997, Roy Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind, Folio Society, published 2016, page 126:

(philosophy, theology) A doctrine based on immanence, especially the immanence of God.


Canon

* As an English, Scottish, and Irish surname, variant of Cannon.
* As a French topographical surname, from placenames derived from canne (“reed, cane, tube”).
* As a Chaldean/Chaldean Neo-Aramaic surname, variant of Kanon, Kanoun, from [script needed] (Kānūn), the Classical Syriac name of the ninth and tenth months of the Assyrian calendar, from ܟܢܘܢ ܒ.

(Roman Catholicism, with definite article) The Canon of the Mass.


Canon

(Christianity) Alternative letter-case form of canon: a member of a chapter.

Canon Smith is our new parish priest.


church-ridden

en-adj

church-ridden (comparative more church-ridden, superlative most church-ridden)

more church-ridden (comparative)
most church-ridden (superlative)

[…] to a Nation of Papists, as the whole People then were, and proposed to remain such, it was thought necessary to procure the further Security of a Dispensation from the See of Rome, without which it might be possible, for Ecclesiasticks, in the Reign of some future Church-ridden Prince, to resume their Possessions without refunding the Purchase Money.

1748, anonymous author, The State Preferable to the Church, London: M. Cooper, page 49:

It was a law introduced by Juarez, and named after him, by which the equal rights of all citizens was established. But a stout battle followed, in which, for reasons we have seen, the parish priests were on the side of the people, and the higher dignitaries of the church—in a land long church-ridden and still very superstitious—were the heads of the antagonism.

1865 August 19, “Throned upon Thorns”, in Charles Dickens, editor, All the Year Round, number 330, page 83:

And now he told the members of Local Leesville what he thought of those tea-party revolutionists who pandered to the respectability of a church-ridden community.

1919, Upton Sinclair, Jimmie Higgins, Pasadena, Chapter III, Part II, p. 27:

There was actually no question of treason to the tsar, nor could be in a front which included the Church-ridden peasants; the common enemy was Kaftyrev and his local administration only.

1943, G. D. R. Phillips, “Colonisation: Russo-Buryat Revolt”, in Dawn in Siberia: The Mongols of Lake Baikal, London: Frederick Muller, page 90:


Victory

en-proper noun

Victory (countable and uncountable, plural Victorys or Victories)

(uncountable) The 48th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

All along the Champs Elysées were […] statues of plaster representing nymphs, triumphs, victories, and other female personages painted in oil so as to represent marble; real marble could have had no better effect, and the appearance of the whole was lively and picturesque in the extreme.

1841, M. A. Titmarsh [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “Mr. Titmarsh to Miss Smith on the Second Funeral of Napoleon. Letter III. The Funeral Ceremony.”, in The Second Funeral of Napoleon: […] And The Chronicle of the Drum. […], London: Hugh Cunningham, […], →OCLC, page 63:

The two reverse groupings which originate on sestertii of Hadrian (BMCCRE III, pl. 79, 7), continue through the coinage of Caracalla, and show Victory floating or standing to the left or right with a standard or trophy held crosswise and extended in the hands are nothing more than the translations of similarly arranged Victoriae from the spandrels of triumphal arches to coin reverses.

1953, Gnomon: Kritische Zeitschrift für die gesamte klassische Altertumswissenschaft, pages 475–476:

Behind Roma seated with Victoriola on the exten ded^([sic]) hand a full-sized Victory approaches from the right with crown and palm.

1974, The Goddess Roma in the Art of the Roman Empire, page 44:

We know from Dio that, when the Curia Iulia, begun by Caesar in 44 B.C., was finally dedicated in 29 B.C., Octavian set up a statue of Victory beside the altar of Victoria which he also dedicated there (51, 22, 2).[…]The type, which inspired innumerable copies, appears on coins by 31 B.C., if not earlier, and shows such a Victory holding in the right hand a wreath and in the left a palm branch, occasionally other attributes. Four years later, when Augustus received the clupeus virtutis, this was placed near the statue of Victory in the Curia Iulia.[…]The fact that there are two Victories at Lugdunum raises a different question, however.

1993, Duncan Fishwick, “The Twin Victories”, in The Imperial Cult in the Latin West, 2nd edition, volume I,1, E.J. Brill, →ISBN, book I, chapter “Roma et Augustus”, subchapter “The Altar of the Three Gauls”, pages 111–112:

(uncountable, Roman mythology) Synonym of Victoria (“the Roman goddess of victory, the counterpart of the Greek goddess Nike”); also (countable), an artistic depiction of her, chiefly as a winged woman.

Victoria

A number of places in the United States:


Shu

Borrowed from Egyptian šw (“Shu”, literally “Emptiness”), a derivative of the verb šwj (“to be empty, devoid of”).

bor

(Egyptian mythology) A god personifying the air and atmosphere.


Iron

Translation of the Arabic حديد (ḥadīd, “iron”).


Tien

(Chinese mythology) Alternative form of Tian: Heaven, simultaneously conceived as the Heavens, Nature, and an anthropomorphic supreme God.


Women

The fourth sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.


Ornaments

The forty-third sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.


Spoils of War

The eighth sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.


Inevitable

The fifty-sixth sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.


Hypocrites

The sixty-third sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.


Forgiver

The fortieth sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.


Ya-Sin

From Arabic يَاسِين (yāsīn), see there for more.


Luqman

The thirty-first sura (chapter) of the Qur'an, named after the sage.


Children of Israel

The seventeenth sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.


Resurrection

(Christianity) The resurrection of Jesus Christ.

(Islam) The 75th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.


Astadiggaja

From Sanskrit अष्ट (aṣṭa, “eight”) + दिक् (dik, “direction”) + गज (gaja, “elephant”).

(Hinduism) A term applied to the eight male elephants standing guard over the eight zones.


Atikaya

From Sanskrit अतिकाय (atikāya, “gigantic”); ultimately from अति (ati, “extraordinary in size”) + काय (kāya, “body”).

(Hinduism) Name of one of the sons of Ravana in the Ramayana.


Maheshwari

From Sanskrit महेश्वरी (maheśvarī); ultimately from महा (mahā, “great”) + ईश्वरी (īśvarī, “goddess”).


Maitreyi

(Hinduism) Name of a Vedic philosopher in Ancient India, a wife of the sage Yajnavalkya.


Maheshwar

From Sanskrit महेश्वर (maheśvara); ultimately from महा (mahā, “great”) + ईश्वर (īśvara, “god”).

(Hinduism) Epithet of the Hindu god Shiva.


Dawood

From Arabic دَاوُود (dāwūd). Doublet of David.


śarīra

Borrowed from Sanskrit शरीर (śarīra, “body”).

(Buddhism) A relic, especially a pearl-like object, found in the cremated ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters.


Whit Monday

Contraction of white Monday; compare Whitsunday

(Christianity) The Monday that immediately follows Pentecost; the second day of Whitsuntide.


Qutbism

The ideology of Qutbism was pursued by Muhammad Abdul al-Salam Faraj, who emerged after Qutb as Egypt's most important Islamist revolutionaries.

2007, Bilveer Singh, The Talibanization of Southeast Asia: Losing the War on Terror to Islamist Extremists:

(Islam, politics) An Islamist ideology developed by Sayyid Qutb, the figurehead of the Muslim Brotherhood, involving the use of military force to propagate sharia law.


Qutbist

en-adj

Qutbist (comparative more Qutbist, superlative most Qutbist)

more Qutbist (comparative)
most Qutbist (superlative)

(Islam, politics) Of or pertaining to Qutbism.


Qutbist

(Islam, politics) A supporter of Qutbism.


Bryanite

From Bryan + -ite, after William O'Bryan (born William Bryant).


teach the controversy

en-verb

teach the controversy (third-person singular simple present teaches the controversy, present participle teaching the controversy, simple past and past participle taught the controversy)

teaches the controversy (present singular third-person)
teaching the controversy (participle present)
taught the controversy (participle past)
taught the controversy (past)

Recent developments in some of the states suggest that all public high school biology teachers may soon have to prepare themselves - whether they like it or not - to teach the controversy.

2008, Patrick H. Clancy, Teaching the Controversy: A How-to Guide for Public (Government) School Biology, Xulon Press, →ISBN:

Senator Rick Santorum is a Pennsylvanian in the same circles (author of the ' Santorum Language' that encourages schools to teach the controversy) ...

2009, Lauri Lebo, The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma V. Darwin in Small-town America, The New Press, →ISBN, page 111:

To the extent that ID is a religious idea, and teaching the controversy is not about teaching a real scientific controversy, there are significant endorsement problems .

2010, Frank S. Ravitch, Marketing Intelligent Design: Law and the Creationist Agenda, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 93:

(US, euphemistic, creationism) To teach that life forms may have been created (almost) in their current form by a sentient being in a manner consistent with Christian dogmata, rather than as a result of ordinary evolution, and that the theory of evolution is controversial.


Gomer

en-proper noun

Gomer (countable and uncountable, plural Gomers)

The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 10:2:


zabiba

Borrowed from Arabic زَبِيبَة (zabība), literally "raisin".


KJO

King James Only
w:King James Only movement

(Christianity) Initialism of King James Only.


Jesuism

A sentiment this, which is as far from a weak Arminianism as it is opposite to a wicked Antinomianism, and which may strictly be denominated pure Jesuism.

1794, John Rippon, The Baptist annual register; including sketches of the state of religion among different denominations of good men at home and abroad, volume 2:

The Jesuism which makes Jesus an object of religious faith is pseudo-Christian. That Jesuism which makes Jesus very God, has some claims to be considered religion. But that which makes him, as Dr. Clarke's does, a mere "perfect specimen of a man," is no religion at all; it is mere hero-worship.

1870 November 14, “Dr. J. F. Clarke against theism”, in The Examiner, volume 1, number 1:

The religion of the Christians has for good reasons been called, not Jesuism after the name of Jesus, but Christianity after Christ, the ideal of humanity, which is not an individual being but a superpersonal presence, not a man who lived and died at a certain time, but like the Platonic ideas, an eternal type, the prototype of the highest ideal of manhood.

1909, Paul Carus, “Christianity as the pleroma”, in The Open Court, volume 23, page 424:

(Christianity) The teachings or worship of Jesus, as opposed to Christianity as a whole.


Yoshke

“And he’s not to mention Yoshke’s name once. If he does, we get up and leave.” / “He wants to know who Yoshke is.” Shoshanna giggled. / “I should teach him who Yoshke is? Yoshke, Yoisel, the guy on the cross, tell him.” / Very carefully, Shoshanna said, “Your gentleman on your cross.” She was afraid of saying Jesus.

(Judaism, euphemistic, derogatory) Jesus


Suen

(Mesopotamian mythology) Synonym of Nanna (god of the moon)


Nanda

From Sanskrit सुन्दरी नन्दा (sundarī nandā) or Pali Sundarī Nandā.

nc

सुन्दरी नन्दा

(Buddhism) The half-sister of Gautama Buddha.


Nanda

From Sanskrit सुन्दरनन्द (sundarananda) or Pali Sundarananda.

(Buddhism) The half-brother of Gautama Buddha.


hard atheism

Coordinate term: soft atheism


soft atheism

Coordinate term: hard atheism

The lack of belief in deities, without actually asserting that there are none.


son of God

(Judaism, Christianity, sometimes capitalised) A man who is beloved of God; a righteous man.


Laman

(Mormonism) A character in the Book of Mormon, the ancestor of the Lamanites.


St. Francis

St. Francis be my ſpeed, how oft to night / Haue my old feet ſtumbled at graues?

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 76:

(Roman Catholicism) Saint Francis of Assisi

Any of several saints
Saint Francis of Assisi


Prajapati

en-proper noun

Prajapati (countable and uncountable, plural Prajapatis)

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit प्रजापति (prajā́pati, “lord of creation”).

lbor

(Hinduism, Vedic religion) A deity, later identified with Brahma.


Atum

Borrowed from Coptic ⲁⲧⲟⲩⲙ (atoum, “Atum”), from Egyptian tm (“Atum”).

(Egyptian mythology) The creator god of Heliopolis, the original source of all matter, associated with the evening sun.


Geb

Borrowed from Egyptian gbb (“Geb, earth”).

(Egyptian mythology) The god who serves as the personification of the earth.


polypantheism

Immediately from poly- + pantheism. Ultimately from poly- + pan- + Ancient Greek θεός (theós, “god, divine”) + -ism.

der

This may be as simple as the atheist's world view, which actively denies the existence of any God and the validity of any religious system, or as complicated as the constantly evolving polypantheism which is intricately woven into the Hindu world view.

1980, Walter Martin, Gretchen Passantino, The New Cults, page 128:

A postrational passive principle philosophy in defense of feminist polypantheism

2006, Indi Riverflow, Blues 4 Kali, →ISBN:

as noted, Tarde's theory is also a panpsychism, and in his own terms a 'myriatheism' (p. 25), which might be less elegantly paraphrased as polypantheism.

2011, Gabriel de Tarde, Monadology and Sociology, page 73:

The difficulty with polypantheism is the tendency to order, to classify.

2014, Emma Restall Orr, Spirits of the Sacred Grove:

(religion) Belief in multiple impersonal nontranscendent deities embodied by natural phenomena.


Haran

A variant of Haren, or a reduced form of Hanrahan, both Irish surnames.

(biblical) a place in the Bible, possibly identical to Harran in modern-day Turkey that served as Abraham's temporary home after God called him in Ur but before he departed, the place where his father Terah died

(biblical) one of Abraham's two brothers


Jacob's Pillow

(biblical) The stone mentioned in the Book of Genesis as having been used as a pillow by the Israelite patriarch Jacob at the place later called Bet-El. Since Jacob had a vision in his sleep, he then consecrated the stone to God. More recently, the stone has been claimed by Scottish folklore and British Israelism.


free-mix

en-verb

free-mix (third-person singular simple present free-mixes, present participle free-mixing, simple past and past participle free-mixed)

free-mixes (present singular third-person)
free-mixing (participle present)
free-mixed (participle past)
free-mixed (past)

Free-mixing between the sexes is forbidden, men and women are advised to marry at a young age so that they can fulfill their desires lawfully, and all are told to "lower their gazes" in public so that the eye may not be used as an instrument of Satan.

1999, Abdul Ghaffar Hasan, The Rights & Duties Of Women In Islam:

“They have full 'respect' for nightclubs, nudism, alcohol, pornography, homosexuality, fornication, adultery, interest, free-mixing, music, gambling and freedom to insult the sharia under the pretext of freedom of speech,” the message continued.

2011, Yaakov Lappin, Virtual Caliphate: Exposing the Islamist State on the Internet, →ISBN:

You're not going to say it's permissible to free-mix, but this is the society in which you live, so there's bound to be a level of free-mixing— though some of it is needless.

2016, Anabel Inge, The Making of a Salafi Muslim Woman: Paths to Conversion:

However, school leaders had not taken decisive action following reports from the police in 2013/2014 about extremist views, including one posting stating that any sixth-form students who attended a 'leavers' party' and engaged in 'free-mixing' or 'listening to music' would face 'severe consequences later'.

2016, Russell Grigg, Big Ideas in Education: What Every Teacher Should Know:

(intransitive, Islam) To mingle and socialize with members of the opposite sex.


mudarabah

From Arabic مُضَارَبَة (muḍāraba, “venture”).

(Islamic finance) A partnership or trust financing contract where one partner gives money to another for investing in a commercial enterprise.


Marcan priority

(theology) The hypothesis that the Gospel of Mark was the first-written of the three Synoptic Gospels and was used as a source by the other two (Matthew and Luke).


paraliturgical

(Christianity) Not part of the official liturgical canon


delatinization

(Christianity) Changes in the Catholic liturgy that move away from the Roman Rite.


state of nature

en-noun

state of nature (plural states of nature)

(philosophy, religion, law) The way that people lived before there was any organized society.

luonnontila

the way that people lived before there was any organized society


Shem HaMephorash

From Hebrew הַשֵּׁם הַמְפוֹרָשׁ (haššēm hamp̄ōrāš, literally “the explicit name”).

uder

הַשֵּׁם הַמְפוֹרָשׁ

Neither the divine name composed of twelve letters, nor the one of forty-two letters, ever obtained the title of Shem HaMephorash—this being the designation of the particular name, or the Tetragrammaton, as we have already propounded.

1865, Christian David Ginsburg, The Kabbalah: Its Doctrines, Development, and Literature, page 100:

The death penalty was inflicted only upon the blasphemer who used the Ineffable Name, the Shem HaMephorash, YHWH, or its equivalent Adonai (“Our Lord”).

1963, George Horowitz, The Spirit of Jewish Law:

And one time only he disobeyed the Rabbi Low, and Rabbi Low erased the Shem HaMephorash from the golem's forehead and the golem fell down like a dead one.

2014, Avram Davidson, The Avram Davidson Treasury, →ISBN:

Shaah - To lay waste, devastate; 28th name of Shem HaMephorash

2017, Brian Pivik, Gematria and the Tanakh, →ISBN, page 244:

(Judaism, mysticism) One of the esoteric names of God within Kabballah, corresponding to the Tetragrammaton, often referring to a 72-worded variant in particular.


spacekin

Frau Vanderhoeven waved to me to come over. "Greetings, spacekin!" she said. "We are only just finishing our funeral pyre."

2009, Karen Subach, “A Wolf Should Roam”, in New England Review, volume 30, number 1, Middlebury College:

In addition to the otherkin identify as animals, there are some who identify as mythical creatures, like dragons, fairies, or vampires; fictionkin, who identify as fictional characters, frequently from anime series or videogames; weatherkin, like Marco, who identify as weather systems; conceptkin, who identify as abstract concepts; spacekin, who identify as celestial bodies; and several other even more obscure categories (musickin, timeperiodkin—the list goes on).

2016 August 4, Callie Beusman, “'I Look at a Cloud and I See It as Me': The People Who Identify As Objects”, in Broadly:

There's plantkin, spacekin—who's to say planets don't have souls?—and a whole bunch of other Otherkin, It's not just animals.

2017, Bryant A. Loney, Take Me to the Cat, →ISBN, page 190:

A type of otherkin that identifies as an astronomical body.


Otherkin

Some elves claim to be allergic to iron and other products of encroaching modernity, while one breed of Otherkin—dragons in human bodies—insist that having no allergies is a sign of Otherness.

2001 February 13, Nick Mamatas, “Elven Like Me”, in The Village Voice, →ISSN, archived from the original on 2015-05-16:

The living Otherkin are a loosely affiliated group of mostly young people who believe themselves to be magical and spiritual creatures: elves, werewolves, dragons, fairies, angels, hobbits.

2005 October 4, Christine Wicker, Not in Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic is Transforming America, 1st edition, New York: HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 240:

Another is that I myself identify as Otherkin—a wolf therianthrope, to be exact—and I find this particular subculture to be absolutely fascinating.

2007 April 20, Lupa, A Field Guide to Otherkin, 1st edition, Stafford: Megalithica Books, →ISBN, page 18:

In an archaically bound volume, Gibson explores the affirmation of the Otherkin community (who identify as partially or wholly animal) through the collation of visuals from mainstream culture, including Instagram filters and computer game clips.

2020 September 16, Hannah Clugston, “Soft Bodies review – tech simulations of life's squishy stuff”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Alternative letter-case form of otherkin.


plantkin

Some people were definitely fucking around: One blog, run by a "social justice warrior plantkin" who obsessively demands that their followers check their species privilege, was clearly a hoax.

As a demisexual plantkin I can't stand how white privileged transgendered people are acting as if they're the vanguard of the trans movement.

2015 September 4, Michelle Steiner, “Caitlyn Jenner on Ellen: Marriage equality views have evolved since transitioning”, in Entertainment Weekly:

No, sorry, but Jared is plantkin, though he's still searching to narrow it down.

A type of otherkin that identifies as a plant.


Fraticelli

Adherents to the Fraticelli heresy, condemned as heretical by Pope Bonaface VIII in 1296.


parampara

Borrowed from Sanskrit परंपरा (paraṃparā).


Malebranchist

(philosophy, theology) One who subscribes to Malebranchism.


minoress

The chronicler Charles Wriothesley is the sole authority for the marriage of one Mistress Bures, a minoress of some 16 years standing, to the quondam abbot of Walden, Essex in 1538.

1992, Catherine Paxton, The Nunneries of London and Its Environs in the Later Middle Ages, page 302:

(Catholicism) Alternative letter-case form of Minoress: a Poor Clare.


archeparchy

(Eastern Orthodoxy) The archdiocese of an archbishop in Eastern Christendom


nasnas

(Islam, folklore) A monstrous creature related to the jinn, said to resemble the left or right half of a human being (with half a head, half a body, one arm and one leg).


Mazu

zh-l

媽祖／妈祖 (Māzǔ)

The goddess of the sea is Ma-tsoo-po, called also Teen-how, ‘queen of heaven.’ She is said to have been a virgin, who lived some centuries ago in Fuhkeen, near the district of Fuh-chow On account of having, with great fortitude, and by a kind of miracle, saved her brother who was on the point of drowning, she was deified, and loaded with titles, not dissimilar to those bestowed on the Virgin Mary.

[1832 June, Charles Gutzlaff, “Journal of a residence in Siam, and of a voyage along the coast of China to Mantchou Tartary”, in The Chinese Repository, volume I, number 2, Canton, →OCLC, page 58:

Taiwan’s first Mazu temple, dating back to the 14th century, can be found here, along with the ancient West Fort Sitai (Xitai) on Siyu (Xiyu) and a wealth of restored houses in the southern Fujian architectural style.

2007, Phil Macdonald, “Strait Islands”, in Taiwan, 2nd edition (Travel), National Geographic Society, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 192, column 1:

A Chinese sea goddess, the deified form of Lin Moniang, a medieval Fujianese girl who became revered as a sea goddess and, since the Qing dynasty, especially in Taiwan, more generally as the primary goddess of Heaven.


archeparch

(Eastern Orthodoxy) The archbishop of an archeparchy.


archeparchate

(Eastern Orthodoxy) An archeparchy, or archdiocese of an archbishop.


druidcraft

The practice, art, or skill of Druidry, casting spells; sorcery; witchcraft


vyakarana

The fact that Indian philosophy is based on oral traditions is another reason why vyākaraṇa takes its teaching to be of primary importance.

1990, Harold G. Coward, K. Kunjunni Raja, editors, Encyclopaedia of Indian Philosophies, volume 5, page 36:

Among pandits, vyakarana was one of the six ‘auxiliary sciences’ or ‘limbs’ of the Veda – learning not found within the Vedas, but essential in order to comprehend them.

2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 19:

(Hinduism) The grammar or linguistic analysis of Vedic Sanskrit, as the language of the Hindu scriptures.


kahen

(Judaism) a Haymanot religious role, analogous to a rabbi in other Jewish communities


bi-ritual

(of a priest) Able to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and administer the sacraments of two different sui iuris churches.


assur

Wool which has been shorn from it or which has fallen off it is assur (prohibited for any beneficial use) and if it becomes mixed with other wool the whole becomes assur (Y.D. 308).

1968, Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb: A Philosophy of Jewish Laws and Observances:

In their commentary, the Tosafot conclude that it is assur to inflict a wound in one's body (chovel be'atzmo) even if he benefits from it.

2006, Rabbi Alfred S. Cohen, editor, Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, numbers 51–56:

After chatzos it is assur to daven shacharis.

2011 February 23, Philogos, “How To Understand Yeshivish”, in The Forward:


devilkind

From devil + -kind, modelled after mankind, humankind, etc.

The totality of all devils as a whole; devils collectively.


Bogomilist

Bogomilists rejected the divinity of Jesus, the worship of images, baptism, the ornamentation of churches, etc.

2002, Abul-Fazl Ezzati, The Spread of Islam: The Contributing Factors, Revised edition, page 435:

Persecution by Christians seemed to exterminate it from Europe by the 7th century AD, but offshoots of it kept springing to the surface, in the Bogomilists of Bulgaria in the 10th century and most famously in the Albigensians or 'Kathars' of Albi, in the south of France,[…].

2002, Vladimir Dimitrov, Bob Hodge, Social Fuzziology: Study of Fuzziness of Social Complexity, page 148:

[…]existed among the many Christian Gnostics, Cathars, Bogomilists, and other forms of Christianity that were influenced by Origen on this question.

2015, Shaul Magid, “Chapter 6: The Case of Jewish Arianism: The Pre-existence of the Zaddik in Early Hasidism”, in Brian Ogren, editor, Time and Eternity in Jewish Mysticism, page 100:

(history, religion) An adherent of Bogomilism; a Bogomil.


Bogomilist

But the uniquely disastrous effect of Catholic policy in causing a schism between Bogomilist Bosnia and Catholic Croatia soon was to manifest itself in the fight over Tvrdko's inheritance.

1964, Stanko Guldescu, History of Medieval Croatia, page 256:

2006, Christopher K. Coffman, 5: Bogomilism, Orphism, Shamanism: The Physical and Spatial Grounds of Pynchon's Ecological Ethic, Jeffrey Severs, Christopher Leise, Pynchon's Against the Day: A Corrupted Pilgrim's Guide, page 103,
More specifically, Pynchon's characterization of the sect reveals a point of essential compatibility, one in which Cyprian's Bogomilist suspension of belief in the doctrine of a final judgment can be viewed as complementary to Orphism's rejection of an ultimate eschatological scene.

It seems likely though, that something of the Manichean and Bogomilist attitude toward dead bodies enters into the picture.

2009, Jay Stevenson, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vampires, page 92:

(history, religion) Of, pertaining to or adhering to Bogomilism.


Panakhyda

Notwithstanding the personal or national mourning, the Panakhyda represents, and will remain for long, a kind of national religious Universal.

198, Manoly R. Lupul, Visible Symbols: Cultural Expression Among Canada's Ukrainians:

(Christianity) A solemn liturgical service for the repose of the departed in Eastern Christendom.


pitaka

Borrowed from Sanskrit पिटक (piṭaka), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *pirtakas.

(Buddhism) A collection of Buddhist scriptures.


Elron

(Scientology) L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), American author and founder of Scientology.


Prislam

(US, sometimes derogatory) A variety of Islam to which its adherents converted in prison.


Shivalinga

He poured enough water to cause a flood, placed a heap of bel leaves on the Shivalinga, and belted out his impure chanting.

2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 3

(Hinduism) A columnar or cylindrical representation of the god Shiva, used as a focus for worship in a Hindu shrine or temple.


El Shaddai

Borrowed from Hebrew אֵל שַׁדַּי (ʼĒl Šadạy, “God Almighty”).

bor

Epithet of Yahweh, usually translated as "God Almighty", though the exact meaning of "Shaddai" remains uncertain.


Falwellian

en-adj

Falwellian (comparative more Falwellian, superlative most Falwellian)

more Falwellian (comparative)
most Falwellian (superlative)

Of or relating to Jerry Falwell (1933–2007), American Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist associated with the Moral Majority.


brahmarakshasa

From Sanskrit ब्रह्मराक्षस (brahmarākṣasa).

bor

ब्रह्मराक्षस

A brahmarakshasa had been pestering the rishi to give his daughter in marriage to him.

Buddhidan stood in his drawing room like a Brahmarakshas in a forest.

2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 83

(Hindu mythology) The spirit of an evil Brahmin; a demon, an evil spirit.


Roman collar

'The Rev. Sebastian Diggles!' said the servant at that instant, throwing open the library-door, and ushering in a tall, heavy-looking personage, somewhat quaintly attired in the clerical costume of the last century, relieved by a few additional peculiarities—to wit, a Roman collar, &c.

1844, Difficulties of a Young Clergyman in Times of Division:

The clerical Collar, generally styled the Roman Collar, and in French Rabat, was unknown as an article of ecclesiastical attire, at least in its present form, prior to the sixteenth century.

1881, John O'Brien, A History of the Mass and Its Ceremonies in the Eastern and Western Church:

In some places priests who appear always in Roman collar are suspected of aspiring to higher offices. It is taken so because usually the bishops appear in this official dress. The wearing of Roman collar can potentially depersonalize someone.

2011, Jordan Nyenyembe, African Catholic Priests: Confronting an Identity Problem, page 74:


janeu

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₁yaǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-nós
Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hyaȷ́nás
Sanskrit यज्ञ (yajña)
Sanskrit उपव्ये (upavye)
Sanskrit -इत (-ita)
Sanskrit उपवीत (upavīta)
Sanskrit यज्ञोपवीत (yajñopavīta)
Prakrit 𑀚𑀡𑁆𑀡𑁄𑀯𑀯𑀻𑀅 (jaṇṇovavīa)
Hindi जनेऊ (janeū)bor.
English janeu
Transliteration of Hindi जनेऊ (janeū), from Sanskrit यज्ञोपवीत (yajñopavīta).

etymon

The words bring back the memory of Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru, who gave up his life to the Mughal authorities for the upkeep of Hindu religious symbols: the janeu and the tilak.

2003, Bhawan Singh Rana, Indian Critiques of Gandhi, page 181:

The origin of the janëu has not been explained as yet; many believe it to be the remnant of a garment.

2007, Klaus K. Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism, 3rd edition, page 150:

He had tied a diamond ring to his janeu thread and hidden it in the folds of his dhoti.

2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 132

(Hinduism) A sacred thread or cord received as a rite of passage by someone studying under a guru.


cenobiac

en-adj

cenobiac (comparative more cenobiac, superlative most cenobiac)

more cenobiac (comparative)
most cenobiac (superlative)


idiorrhythmic

idiorrhythmic (comparative more idiorrhythmic, superlative most idiorrhythmic)

more idiorrhythmic (comparative)
most idiorrhythmic (superlative)

From ἴδιος (ídios, “own, personal, distinct”) + ῥῠθμός (rhuthmós, “rule, measure, rhythm”).

St. Stergos was an idiorrhythmic monk.

(Christianity) self-regulating; usually referring to an Eastern form of monastic life where monks live alone, often in isolation, constantly in mental prayer.


Ennead

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἐννεάς (Enneás), itself a calque of Egyptian psḏt (“nine, nineness, ennead”), from psḏw (“nine”).

calque

(Egyptian mythology) The collection of nine gods worshipped at Heliopolis and taking part in the Heliopolitan creation myth, together representing the sum of all the elements of the created world: Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Nut, Geb, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys.


Seaxneat

Learned borrowing from Old English *Seaxnēat, via reconstruction.

learned borrowing

A god or legendary king of the Anglo-Saxons


alamoth

Borrowed from Hebrew עֲלָמוֹת (‘ălāmōṯ, “women of childbearing age”), feminine plural of עֶלֶם (èlem, “man of marriageable age”).

bor

1 Chronicles 15:20 Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah were to play the lyres according to alamoth ...

(biblical, music) soprano or, possibly, virgin


Tefnut

Borrowed from Egyptian tfnwt, tfnt (“Tefnut”).

(Egyptian mythology) A goddess of the Heliopolitan Ennead, commonly taken to be a personification of moisture


antiagnostic

The agnostic is open towards atheism and metaphysics. The antiagnostic selects only one option: either atheism or metaphysics, and is not agnostic about that!

(philosophy, metaphysics, religion) Alternative form of anti-agnostic


antiagnostic

en-adj

antiagnostic (comparative more antiagnostic, superlative most antiagnostic)

more antiagnostic (comparative)
most antiagnostic (superlative)

A non ambivalent worldview, thus absolute, is always antiagnostic!


anti-agnostic

The agnostic is open towards atheism and metaphysics. The anti-agnostic selects only one option: either atheism or metaphysics, and is not agnostic about that!

(philosophy, metaphysics, religion) A person who opposes agnosticism.

αντιαγνωστικιστής

against ambiguous metaphysics; fully supporting either atheism or religion


anti-agnostic

A non ambivalent worldview, thus absolute, is always anti-agnostic!

(philosophy, metaphysics, religion) Opposed to agnosticism.

αντιαγνωστικιστικός

against ambiguous metaphysics; expressing full support to either atheism or religion


Matsya

Borrowed from Sanskrit मत्स्य (mátsya, “fish”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *mátsyas.

(Hinduism, Hindu mythology) The first of ten successive avatars of the god Vishnu, who saved the first man Manu from a great flood in the form of a fish.


Porki

Blend of pork + Paki, by surface analysis, pork + -i.

(derogatory, offensive, slang, ethnic slur) A Pakistani.


muhurtam

Borrowed from Sanskrit मुहूर्तम् (muhūrtam).

(India, Hinduism, astrology) An auspicious day on which an important event, usually a wedding, can be held.


sarkari

Borrowed from Hindi सरकारी (sarkārī). The usage of "sarkari" as a negative term originated from Khalistani supporters who condemned Sikhs who supported the government of India.

sarkari Musalman

a Muslim who favours BJP policies instead of Muslim activism

(India, Islam, slang) Supporting the government of India, pro-establishment; specifically, the BJP and Hindutva, against Indian Muslim interests.


Dianology

A breakaway faction of Scientology, formed by Jack Horner in 1965 and later renamed Eductivism.


tumah

Borrowed from Hebrew טומאה / טֻמְאָה (tum'á).

he-l

טומאה / טֻמְאָה (tum'á)

(Judaism) A state of ritual impurity arising from contact with corpses, the corpses of certain non-kosher animals, certain bodily fluids, diseases, etc.


tzaraath

Borrowed from Hebrew צרעת (tsará'at), originally "smitten" or "struck" from various skin afflictions' supposed divine origin.

(Judaism) Any of various disfigurements of a person's skin, hair, clothing, or home understood as a kind of impurity requiring special rituals of atonement.

spitaali

any of various disfigurements associated with certain kinds of ritual impurity in Judaism


dharmachakra

Transliteration of Sanskrit धर्मचक्र (dharmacakra).

translit

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) The wheel of dharma (natural law; cosmic order), a motif in dharmic religions.


manusya

Transliteration of Sanskrit मनुष्य (manuṣyà).

If not a devata – let's try to become at least worth a manusya, what we look in appearance. For us to become a manusya, we must take care that we don't take anything from anyone more than what is due to us. As a manusya we cannot and should not cheat others.

2005, Dr. Harish Chandra, Ph. D., As Simple As It Gets, Hyderabad: Center for Inner Sciences, →ISBN, page 69, →ISBN:

Three classes of Prajapati's progeny—Devas (gods), Manusyas (men) and Asuras (demons)—lived a life of discipline under their father, Prajapati […]

2006, Mahendra Kulasrestha, Culture India: a compendium of Indian philosophy, religion, arts, literature and society, New Delhi: Lotus Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 74, →ISBN:

The Manusyas or men are placed next to gods, Gandharvas and Apsarâs were inferior gods who ruled over forests and rivers.

1880, Mahadev Moreshwar Kunte, The Vicissitudes of Âryan Civilization in India: An Essay, which Treats of the History of the Vedic and Buddhistic Polities, Explaining Their Origin, Prosperity, and Decline, Bombay: Printed at the Oriental Print. Press, →OCLC, page 215:

In the Anguttara Nikaya, He said: ‘I am not indeed a deva, nor a gandharva, nor a yaksa, nor a manusya. Know ye that I am the Buddha.’ After Enlightenment, the Buddha could no longer be classified even as a ‘manusya’ or an ordinary human being.

2013 August 31, “Was Buddha an Incarnation of God?”, in Tsem Rinpoche, archived from the original on 2020-08-12:

(rare outside of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and related philosophy) man, human being

rare outside of Hinduism; Jainism and related philosophy; rare outside of Hinduism; Jainism and related philosophy


Elon

en-proper noun

Elon (countable and uncountable, plural Elons)

From Hebrew אֵילֹן (ʼÊlōn, literally “oak tree”).

bor

And after him, Elon, a Zebulonite iudged Israel, and he iudged Israel ten yeeres.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 12:11:

(biblical) A judge in the Old Testament.


Andal

(Hinduism) a poet saint, considered an avatar of Bhudevi; daughter of Periyalvar.


hieromartyr

(Christianity) A martyr in the Eastern Church who was a bishop or priest


en-verb

think<,,thought> all one's Christmases have come at once

think all one's Christmases have come at once (third-person singular simple present thinks all one's Christmases have come at once, present participle thinking all one's Christmases have come at once, simple past and past participle thought all one's Christmases have come at once)

(informal) To be delighted with one's good fortune.


anthropopathetically

I ascribe no faculties at all to God, except it be anthropopathetically; as the Scripture ascribes eyes and hands to God; which must be understood as is beseeming the majesty of God.

1844, John Bramhall, The Works of the Most Reverend Father in God, John Bramhall:

(theology, rare) Exhibiting human emotions.


ohel

(Judaism) A structure erected over the grave of a great and righteous person.


Zadkiel

Borrowed from Hebrew צָדְקִיאֵל, meaning "Righteousness of God".

bor

Hebrew צָדְקִיאֵל

The archangel of freedom, benevolence and mercy, in Jewish and Christian angelology.


yasht

From Middle Persian yšt' (yašt, “prayer, worship”), probably from Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬱𐬙𐬀 (yašta, “honored”), from 𐬫𐬀𐬰 (yaz, “to worship, honor”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁yaǵ-.

(Zoroastrianism) Any of a collection of hymns and prayers.


Kathina

(Buddhism) An annual festival during which robes are presented to priests, usually falling between the 1st day of the waning moon of the 11th month and the middle of the 12th month under the lunar calendar.


Idris

(Islam) a prophet in Islam; traditionally identified with the biblical Enoch.


Asenath

Hebrew אָסְנַת (ʾāsənaṯ)

(biblical) An Egyptian woman whom Pharaoh gave to Joseph, son of Jacob, to be his wife, and who bore him two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.


Venti

1858, John Brougham, Neptune’s Defeat, New York: Sameuel French, Act I, Scene 3, p. 15,
Boreas, old buster, go unlock the cave
of Æolus, and let the Venti rave.

(Roman mythology) The four Roman gods of the winds (Aquilo, Favonius, Auster, and Eurus, who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came), considered collectively.


musalla

Borrowed from Arabic مُصَلًّى (muṣallan), from صَلَّى (ṣallā, “to pray”).

(Islam) A place for praying (e.g. outside a mosque); a praying room.


tahli

(Hinduism) A gold ornament worn by the wives of Brahmins.


Judica

Borrowed from Latin judica, from the opening words of the introit: "Judica me, Deus."


Jubilate

So called because the church service began on that day with the 66th Psalm, "Jubilate Deo".

(Christianity) The third Sunday after Easter.


Jehoiada

Hebrew יְהוֹיָדָע

(biblical) A prominent priest during the reigns of Ahaziah, Athaliah, and Joash. He became the brother-in-law of King Ahaziah and opposed the worship of Baal.


Jebusite

From Jebus + -ite, from the prior name of Jerusalem according to the Book of Kings.

A member of a Canaanite tribe said to have inhabited Jerusalem prior to its conquest by Joshua or King David.


herbad

From Classical Persian هیرْبَد (hērbad), from Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (hylpt' /hērbed/, “teacher-priest”).

der

(Zoroastrianism) A Zoroastrian priest of a minor order.


Nestorianist

(Christianity) Of or relating to the Nestorians.


Newmanite

From Newman + -ite, after the prominent Tractarian John Henry Newman.

Russell told Archbishop Howley that the opposition consisted of clergy who shared Newman’s opinions, but had not the honesty to follow Newman to the Church of Rome. […] Howley tried vainly to correct the simple view that the remonstrants were Newmanites.

1966, Owen Chadwick, The Victorian Church, volume 1, page 240:

(historical, originally derogatory) A follower of the doctrines of John Henry Newman; hence, up to his conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1845, a member of the Oxford movement.


Josephological

Relating to the theology of Saint Joseph.


Twelfth Day

From the fact that Epiphany is the twelfth day after Christmas Day.

A Sermon preached by Maiſter Hugh Latimer on Tvvelfth day, at Grimſtrope. Anno. 1553.

1607, Hugh Latimer, “A Sermon Preached by Maister Hugh Latimer on Tvvelfth Day, at Grimstrope. Anno. 1553.”, in Fruitfull Sermons Preached by the Right Reuerend Father, and Constant Martyr of Iesus Christ, M. Hvgh Latimer, Newly Imprinted with Others not heeretofore set forth in Print, to the Edefying of All which will Dispose Themselues to the Reading of the Same. Seene and Allowed according to the Order Appointed in the Kings Maiestes Iniunctions, London: Printed [by William Jaggard] for the Company of Stationers, →OCLC, chapter title, page 290:

A Preſbyter of the Church of England has long officiated in a Meeting Houſe of this ſeceding deſcription, in London; but that is not all, he ordains too: […] But I would ſay both to the ordainer and the ordained, by what authority doſt thou theſe things, and who gave thee this authorty? […] [A]s to any legality to be derived from ſuch pretended orders, without the permiſſion I have alluded to, thoſe who draw Kings and Queens over a twelfth-day cake, have as good claims to the Crown of England!

1799, Edward Barry, The Friendly Call of Truth and Reason to a New Species of Dissenters, Reading, Berkshire: Printed for the author, and sold by Elmsley & Bremner, in the Strand, London; Smart & Cowslade, Reading, & all other booksellers, →OCLC, footnote, pages 12–13:

The Epiphany is called Twelfth Day, because it falls on the twelfth day after Christmas Day. Epiphany signifies Manifestation, and is applied to this day because it is the day whereon Christ was manifested to the Gentiles.

1828, William Pulleyn, “Section X. Eras, Months, Weeks, Days, &c.”, in The Etymological Compendium, or Portfolio of Origins and Inventions; …, London: Printed for Thomas Tegg, 73, Cheapside; Glasgow: R. Griffin and Co.; Dublin: J. Cumming, →OCLC, page 185:

It is indeed remarkable that the twelfth day nearly coincides in the time of the year with the Saturnalia; and Fosbrooke even finds that the king of the Saturnalia was elected, like the king of the twelfth night, by a bean. […] As all the various customs of different countries on this day concur in the common object of commemorating the visit of the three wise men, or kings, to the birthplace of Christ, a king is in some way or other always a conspicuous personage in the entertainments which take place. In France, previously to the revolution, this mode of celebrating twelfth day prevailed as well at court as among the people in general. At the former, one of the nobles was chosen king, and at the entertainment which followed, the twelfth-day monarch was attended by the king and courtiers.

1847, Robert Sears, “France”, in Scenes and Sketches in Continental Europe: Embracing Descriptions of France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Sicily, Switzerland, Belgium, and Holland, together with Interesting Notices of Their Principal Cities and Towns. Carefully Prepared from the Best and Latest Sources, New York, N.Y.: Published by Robert Sears, 128 Nassau Street; J. S. Redfield, Clinton Hall, →OCLC, page 38:

[W]e fell into a discussion upon the merits of those family meetings which this season brought with it; and it was agreed that the celebration of Christmas, of New Year's and Twelfth-days, the birthday and saint's day of the head of the family, and other festivals, were favourable to the maintenance of domestic harmony, and were therefore worthy of being preserved.

1855, Duchess D'Abrantes (Madame Junot), chapter LXXVII, in Memoirs of Napoleon, His Court and Family. … In Two Volumes, volume I, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton and Company, 346 & 348 Broadway, →OCLC, page 533:

[…] Epiphany is a Christian feast, also known as Twelfth Day, as it is the twelfth day after Christmas. Traditionally, this coincides with the visit of the Magi. The day is marked by feasting and celebration.

2008, Susan Wiggs, “Epiphany”, in Snowfall at Willow Lake (The Lakeshore Chronicles; 4), Don Mills, Ont.: Mira Books, →ISBN:

(Christianity) Synonym of Epiphany (“an annual Christian feast on the twelfth day after Christmas Day (6 January) celebrating the appearance of Jesus Christ to the Magi”).


sesshin

(Buddhism) A period of intensive zazen meditation in a Buddhist monastery.