Freya

Scottish form of Old Norse Freyja (“mistress, lady”).

A female given name from Old Norse of mostly British usage.


propagation

en-noun

propagation (countable and uncountable, plural propagations)

From Middle French propagation, from Old French propagacion, from Latin propagatio.
Morphologically propagate + -ion


Tyr

From Old Norse Týr, from Proto-Germanic *Tīwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- (“god”). Doublet of Tiw.

(Norse mythology) The Norse god of war, identifiable with Tiu or Tiw.


haint

"Ain't you scared of haints?"

1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, part 2, page 254:

I got a tree on my back and a haint in my house, and nothing in between but the daughter I am holding in my arms.

It didn't take long for word to spread that there was a "haint" in the graveyard. A haint is what the old-timers called a ghost.

2005, Eulie Rowan, “The Four-Legged Haint”, in The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, Simon and Schuster, page 106:

My dead grandpa's haint floated above my bed one night when I was a young'un and scared me so bad I busted the bedroom door down tryin' to get out that room so fast.

2009, Mary Monroe, God Still Don't Like Ugly, page 211:

(US, dialectal) A ghost; a supernatural being; Alternative form of haunt.


choosable

From Middle English *chosable, chesable, cheseable, equivalent to choose + -able.


holy cross

From Middle English holy cros, holy crosse, equivalent to holy + cross.

A cross as a Christian symbol of the crucifixion of Christ


Jewdar

And slap on a gag order if we dare say that these traits triggered our "Jewdar" (my Semitic equivalent of gaydar) and allowed us to identify someone as a fellow Jew.

2001, Ophira Edut, “Bubbe Got Back: Tales of a Jewess with Caboose”, in Danya Ruttenberg, editor, Yentl's Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism, Seal Press, →ISBN, page 30:

So she was Jewish. It wouldn't have occurred to me, but Melissa always faulted my Jewdar.

2011, Lawrence Douglas, The Vices, Other Press, →ISBN:

The name Grossman, the physician father, the mention of Florida—my Jewdar went whirring away, strongly suggesting that he could be a member of the tribe.

2015, Joseph Epstein, Masters of the Games: Essays and Stories on Sport, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 82:

(slang) The supposed ability of a person to detect or intuitively sense whether another person is Jewish.


predestine

en-verb

predestine (third-person singular simple present predestines, present participle predestining, simple past and past participle predestined)

predestines (present singular third-person)
predestining (participle present)
predestined (participle past)
predestined (past)

From Old French prédestiner, from Medieval Latin praedestinare. Displaced native Old English foreteohhian.

(theology, transitive) To foreordain by divine will.


Fatimid

(historical) A member of a Muslim dynasty in North Africa and Egypt (approx. CE 900-1200).


requiescat

First word of the Latin phrase requiēscat in pāce (“may he/she rest in peace”). The Latin word requiēscat means "may he/she rest" and is a form of the Latin verb requiēscō (“I rest, I repose”).

A prayer for the peaceful repose of the soul of a dead person


colporteur

Borrowed from French colporteur, from comporteur by influence of col (“neck”) (re-analyzed as col + porteur (“porter”)), from verb comporter, from Latin comportō (English comport).

A peddler of publications, especially of religious books


Auster

For a Tempeſt. Take Eurus, Zephyr, Auſter and Boreas, and caſt them together in one Verſe. Add to theſe of Rain, Lightning, and of Thunder (the loudeſt you can) quantum ſufficit. Mix your Clouds and Billows well together till they foam, and thicken your Deſcription here and there with a Quickſand. Brew your Tempeſt well in your Head, before you ſet it a blowing.

1714 June 10, [Alexander Pope], The Guardian, volume I, number 78, London: Printed for J[acob] Tonson, at Shakespear's-Head over-against Catherine-street in the Strand, page 332:

(Roman mythology) The god of the south wind.


coenobite

The killing resounded around the world but above all in St Petersburg and Paris: the aggressive confidence of the coenobite brawlers reflected not just the religions but the empires behind them.

2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography – A History of the Middle East, page 409:


magistery

en-noun

magistery (countable and uncountable, plural magisteries)

/ˈmæd͡ʒɪstəɹi/

/ˈmæd͡ʒəˌstəɹi/

PIE word
 *méǵh₂s
From Middle English magisteri, magistery (“academic degree of Master”), from Latin magisterium (“office of a chief, director, president, or superintendent; teaching office or authority of the Roman Catholic Church; authoritative statement”) (compare Late Latin magisterium (“philosopher’s stone”)), from magister (“master (title for a person in authority or one having a licence from a university to teach liberal arts and philosophy); teacher”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“big, great”) + *-teros (contrastive or oppositional suffix forming adjectives)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns, sometimes denoting groups and offices). Doublet of magisterium. Cognate with French magistère, Old French magisteire.

der

(uncountable, Roman Catholicism) Synonym of magisterium (“the teaching authority or office of the Roman Catholic Church”)

Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church


Rinzai

A school of Zen buddhism in Japan, based on sudden enlightenment though koans and for that reason also known as the "sudden school".


catechumen

Borrowed from French catéchumène or Ecclesiastical Latin catēchūmenus, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek κατηχούμενος (katēkhoúmenos, “being instructed”), present participle passive of κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “sound through, instruct orally, catechise”), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἠχή (ēkhḗ, “sound”).

κατηχούμενος

Here in this room an old man had killed and boiled a catechumen, had committed sodomy with a rat, had discussed a rodent nunhood with V., a future saint – depending which story you listened to.

A convert to Christianity under instruction before baptism; a young or recent Christian preparing for confirmation.

новопокръстен

convert to Christianity prior to baptism


incumbent

en-adj

incumbent (comparative more incumbent, superlative most incumbent)

more incumbent (comparative)
most incumbent (superlative)

From Latin incumbentem + English -ent (suffix denoting the causing, doing, or promoting of an action). Incumbentem is the accusative singular of incumbēns (“reclining”), the present active participle of incumbō (“to lay upon, to lean or recline on; to fall upon, to press down on”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘against; into; on, upon’) + *cumbō (“to lie down, recline”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb-).

rusten op

leaning, or lying, reclining, or resting, on something else

If the incumbent senator dies, he is replaced by a person appointed by the governor.

But whether parishes,—as usually understood for places bounded in regard of the profits from the people therein, payable only to a pastor incumbent there;—I say, whether such parishes were extant in this age, may well be questioned, as inconsistent with the community of ecclesiastic profits, which then seemed jointly enjoyed by the bishop and his clergy.

1655, Thomas Fuller, “Section II. The Seventh Century.”, in The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI), subsection 68 (England Divided into Parishes. A.D. 637.), page 120:

Analysts said that, while China sought to wield political influence in Vancouver, whatever role it played was unlikely to have swung the vote. ¶ Kennedy Stewart, the incumbent mayor and Mr. [Ken] Sim's left-wing rival, agreed. "Chinese interference isn't the primary reason I lost," he said. "But it may have been a contributing factor." He received 29 percent of the vote to Mr. Sim's 51 percent.

2023 May 7, Dan Bilefsky, “Did China Help Vancouver’s Mayor Win Election?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-04:

Being the current holder of an office or a title; specifically (Christianity, obsolete), of an ecclesiastical benefice.

titular

being the current holder of an office or a title


incumbent

From Middle English incumbent, encumbent (“holder of an ecclesiastical benefice, dean, parson, etc.; cleric (?)”), from Medieval Latin incumbēns (“holder of a church position”) + Middle English -ent (suffix denoting one that causes, does, or promotes an action). Incumbēns is derived from Medieval Latin incumbō (“to obtain; to possess”), from Latin incumbō (“to lay upon, to lean or recline on; to fall upon, to press down on”): see etymology 1.

der

He has always remained friendly to me, though before his promotion, when he was an incumbent of this diocese, we had a little controversy about the Bible Society.

1876, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XXIV, in Daniel Deronda, volume II, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book III (Maidens Choosing), page 123:

But if they had waited about the store to see what would happen when he arrived who until last night anyway must have still believed himself the incumbent, they were disappointed. […] A few days later they learned that the new smith was living in the house […]

1940, William Faulkner, chapter 3, in The Hamlet […], London: Chatto & Windus, published 1979, →ISBN, book 1 (Flem), section 1, page 61:

Mr [Barack] Obama's problems were partly structural. An incumbent must defend the realities and compromises of government, while a challenger is freer to promise the earth, details to follow. Mr Obama's odd solution was to play both incumbent and challenger, jumping from a defence of his record to indignation at such ills as over-crowded classrooms and tax breaks for big oil companies.

2012 October 6, “The first presidential debate: Back in the centre, back in the game”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2012-10-06:

Just as interest grew under previous incumbent-but-one Grant Shapps, so interest could wane under new Transport Secretary Mark Harper.

2022 November 16, Philip Haigh, “Trans-Pennine … Transformative”, in Rail, number 970, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 43:

But the prospect of a Presidential election as a contest of the ancients is not a heartening one, and the anxieties it provokes cannot be dismissed as ageism. What are younger people, especially, to make of a political culture in which incumbents cling so tenaciously to their seats? The median age for senators is now around sixty-five. Mitt Romney, announcing his retirement, at the age of seventy-six, wasn't wrong to declare that it is time for a new generation of leaders to take the helm.

2023 September 24, David Remnick, “The Washington Gerontocracy”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-09-30:

The current holder of an office or title; (specifically, Christianity) the holder of an ecclesiastical benefice.

титуля́р

current holder of an office or title; holder of an ecclesiastical benefice


aggiornamento

/əˌdʒɔːnəˈmɛntəʊ/

/əˌd͡ʒɔɹnəˈmɛntoʊ/

From Italian aggiornamento. Doublet of adjournment.

Aggiornamento with the increasingly truculent magistrates was a major plank of Choiseul's recovery strategy for the state.

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 249:

A bringing up to date, especially of the Roman Catholic Church by the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65; modernization.

uudistus

reform of some teachings of Roman Catholic Church in 1962-65


Lydia

From Ancient Greek Λυδία (Ludía, “the region of Lydia”), from λυδία (ludía, “beautiful one, noble one”), a feminine form of Λυδός (Ludós) (Lydus, from λυδός (ludós) (lydus)). The region of Lydia is said to be named for a king Λυδός (Ludós) (Lydus, from λυδός (ludós) (lydus)); the given name Lydia originally indicated ancestry or residence in the region of Lydia.

uder

And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 16:14:

(biblical) A woman converted by St. Paul; presumably named for ancestry or residence in Lydia.


archon

From Ancient Greek ἄρχων (árkhōn), a noun use of the present participle of ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule”).

Their claim to totality is like the cry of the archon Ialdabaoth that he was the Lord of the Universe and that there was nothing beyond him.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 83:

(Gnosticism) A supernatural being subordinate to the Demiurge.


chrism

en-noun

chrism (countable and uncountable, plural chrisms)

From Middle English crisme, from Late Old English crisma, from Medieval Latin crisma, from Ecclesiastical Latin chrisma, from Ancient Greek χρῖσμα (khrîsma, “anointing”, “unction”), from χρίω (khríō, “anoint”).

der

A reinforcement of fresh troops staggered in, one man soaked and dripping, his hair sticky with the chrism of poured beer, another with his pockets crammed with sauce-bottles.

1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 352:

I observe no confirmation of this reversal and Pole specifically restored chrisms in 1555 (Cardwell, op. cit. i. 147).

1982, A. G. Dickens, Reformation Studies, page 305, footnote:

‘The King,’ Will cried, ‘is my master and bathed in the chrism of the Lord God.’

1984, Anthony Burgess, Enderby's Dark Lady:

For Christian examples of condensed symbols, consider the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist and the Chrisms.

1986, Thomas G. Pavel, Fictional Worlds, page 111:

He was more dangerous than the plump satisfied ones, he was so sure of the value of his witchcraft, the holy oils and chrisms and unctions.

2000, Joseph O'Neill, The Black Shore, page 62:

Miraculously moist, the chrism was kept in an ampulla in Reims cathedral where the coronations of the kings of France were held.

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 8:

[…]even if modest gestures of modernisation have slimmed down the ceremony, the chrism of unction is no longer perfumed with animal effluents—ambergris, musk and civet—and Andrew Lloyd Webber added to Handel and Elgar?

2023 May 6, Simon Schama, “Magic and Modernity”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 1:

A mixture of oil and balm, consecrated for use as an anointing fluid in certain Christian ceremonies, especially confirmation.


chasuble

/ˈt͡ʃæzəbəl/

/ˈt͡ʃæsəbəl/

From Middle English chesible, from Old French chesible, from Late Latin casubla, an alteration of Latin casula (“little cottage, hooded cloak”), a diminutive of casa (“house”).

Day broke. He saw three black hens asleep in a tree. He shuddered, horrified at this omen. Then he promised the Holy Virgin three chasubles for the church, and that he would go barefooted from the cemetery at Bertaux to the chapel of Vassonville.

1898, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling, from the 1856 French by Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, part 3, chapter 10 (ebook)

He has magenta eyes, like old-fashioned vest buttons; he’s mowsy and glaubrous, brown like arnica and then green as the Nile; he’s quaky and qualmy and queasy and teasy; he chews chasubles and ripples rasubly.

1936, Henry Miller, “Jabberwhorl Kronstadt”, in Black Spring, Paris: The Obelisk Press […], →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, 1963, →ISBN, pages 133–134:

(Christianity) The outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for celebrating Eucharist or Mass.


extroversion

en-noun

extroversion (usually uncountable, plural extroversions)

From extrovert + -sion, a variant of extraversion popularized in psychology by Phyllis Blanchard's use of the variant (then nonstandard) spelling extrovert in her 1918 "Psycho-Analytic Study of August Comte".

in mystical Divinity... a scattering or distracting ones thoughts upon exterior objects.

1656, Thomas Blount, Glossographia, s.v. "Extroversion"

The turning of the eye of the mind from [Christ] to outward things [mystics] call Extroversion.

1788, John Wesley, Works, volume VI, page 451:

The state or quality of being extroverted or an extrovert, particularly:

(religion, obsolete) Consideration of the material world as an aid to spiritual insight.


Soto

A school of Zen Buddhism in Japan, based on gradual attainment of enlightenment through meditation.


economically

en-adv

economically (comparative more economically, superlative most economically)

more economically (comparative)
most economically (superlative)


reversionist

But for the reversionist the indwelling of Christ has no effect.

2011, Daniel J. Coleman, The New Day Experience, →ISBN:

The reality which is expected is the justice of God judging unbeliever reversionists, both Jews and Gentiles, and sending them to the Lake of Fire.

2012, D.A. Miller, A Theological Study of The Book of Romans, →ISBN, page 86:

Lot is a believer who is a monetary reversionist. He abandoned the directive will of God for "sordid gain" (cf. 1Tim. 3:8; Titus 1:7, 11; 1Pet. 5:2; Gk. aischrokerdes).

2013, Terry Puett, Institute Of Biblical Studies The Book Of Genesis, →ISBN, page 268:

(theology) One who has lost faith; a heathen, nonbeliever, or apostate.


reversion

en-noun

reversion (countable and uncountable, plural reversions)

/ɹɪˈvɜːʒ(ə)n̩/

/ɹɪˈvɜːʃ(ə)n̩/

Borrowed into late Middle English from Old French reversion (modern réversion), from Latin reversio, from revertō. By surface analysis, revert + -sion.

(Islam, usually proscribed) The act of conversion to Islam, due to the belief that all people are born Muslim.


dhikr

When all had eaten and prayed the first night prayer, they began to recite their dhikr, then they began the musical recital.

1958-1994, Hamilton Gibb & CF Beckingham, in The Travels of Ibn Battutah, Folio Society 2012, p. 62

We prayed together and we practised dhikr, the recitation of the ninety-nine revealed names of God.

(Islam) An Islamic prayer whereby a phrase or expression of praise is repeated continually.

ذِكْر

(Islam) an Islamic prayer whereby a phrase or expression of praise is repeated continually


pornocracy

/pɔːˈnɒkɹəsɪ/

Alfred Edersheim
Bartolomeo Platina
Bzovius
Pope Sergius III

Probably borrowed from German Pornokratie, first found in the writings of Austrian-born Biblical scholar Alfred Edersheim (1825–1889), from Ancient Greek πόρνη (pórnē, “female prostitute”) + -κρᾰτῐ́ᾱ (-kratíā, “-cracy”, suffix indicating “government, rule”); analysable as porno- + -cracy.

refn

Bartolomeo Platina, Onofrio Panvinio, Antonio Cicarelli, Giovanni Stringa, Abraamo Bzovio [i.e., Abraham Bzowski, known as Bzovius] with Antonio Bagatta and Nicol'Angelo Caferri (1663) Le vite de’ pontefici di Bartolomeo Platina: dal Saluator Nostro fino a Paolo II. Accresciute con quelle de’ papi da Sisto Quarto fino ad Alessandro VII., da Onofrio Panuinio, Antonio Cicarelli, Giouanni Stringa, Abraamo Bzouio e Antonio Bagatta. Con le annotationi del Panuinio, e con la Cronologia ecclesiastica dello stesso. Aggiuntoui la vita del Platina scritta dal Sign. Nicol’Angelo Caferri [The Lives of the Popes of Bartolomeo Platina: From Our Saviour to Paul II. Augmented with those of the Popes from Sixtus IV to Alexander VII, by Onofrio Panvinio, Antonio Cicarelli, Giovanni Stringa, Abraham Bzowski, and Antonio Bagatta. With the Annotations of Panvinio, and with the Ecclesiastical Chronology of the Same. Supplemented with the Life of Platina Written by Sign. Nicol’Angelo Caferri], Venice: Presso Gio, Maria Turrini, e Gio, Pietro Brigonci, →OCLC.

der

Under the pornocracy (government of harlots) in the first half of the 10th century, the Papacy was degraded and all Italy torn by factions.

1855, C. Ullmann, “[Second Book. John of Wesel, or The Necessity for the Reformation in Reference to Particular Things in the Church, Especially Indulgences, and the Corruption of the Clergy.] Introduction”, in Robert Menzies, transl., Reformers before the Reformation, Principally in Germany and the Netherlands (Clark's Foreign Theological Library, New Series; VI), volumes I (The Need of a Reformation in Reference to the General Spirit of the Church and Certain Particular Abuses), Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 38 George Street; London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.; Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.; Ward and Co.; Jackson and Walford, etc.; Dublin: John Robertson, and Hodges and Smith, →OCLC, page 166:

Monsters of impurity, avaricious wretches, poisoners, have occupied the papal see. A learned bishop (Maret of the General Council) expresses himself with holy indignation in reference to the frightful enormities of the tenth century. This epoch deserves to be designated under the title of the Pornocracy; that is to say, the government of prostitutes, for Theodora, Marozia, and other ladies of rank at that time, placed on the pontifical throne their paramours and their sons, who were no better than themselves.

1870 July, Jean-Henri Merle d’Aubigné, “Art. VII.—Dr Merle D’Aubigne on the Council and Infallibility. The Council and Infallibility: An Address Delivered at Geneva, 10th December 1869, by M. Merle D’Aubigne, D.D. Paris: Michel Levy, 1870.”, in The British and Foreign Evangelical Review, volume XIX, number LXXIII, London: James Nisbet & Co., Berners Street; Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, →OCLC, page 591:

(Roman Catholicism, historical, sometimes capitalized) The period of the papacy known as the saeculum obscūrum (Latin for “dark age”), and also as the “Rule of the Harlots”, which began with the installation of Pope Sergius III in 904 and lasted for sixty years until the death of Pope John XII in 964, during which time the popes were strongly influenced by the Theophylacti, a powerful and corrupt aristocratic family.

Парнакра́тыя

period of the papacy known as the saeculum obscurum


ahimsa

Already, at this very early date, the ritualists were moving towards the ideal of ahimsa ("harmlessness") that would become the indispensable virtue of the Indian Axial Age.

2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation, Atlantic Books, published 2007, page 79:

This, in essence, is the Jain doctrine of ahimsa – a direct inversion of Vedic beliefs about the sustaining powers of animal sacrifice.

2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 9:

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) A doctrine of non-violence, concerned with the sacredness of all living things and an effort to avoid causing harm to them.

不殺生

doctrine of non-violence in Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism


riba

(Islam, finance) interest or usury, which is haram (sinful) according to sharia law.


ghazi

From Arabic غَازٍ (ḡāzī, “raider, holy warrior”), from the active participle of غَزَا (ḡazā, “to raid”).

bor

Then suddenly, an hour before first light, wave after wave of screaming tribesmen, led by suicide-bent Muslim fanatics known as ghazis, began to hurl themselves against the British positions.

1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 351:

On a particularly joyous day of the festivities, below Our Sultan’s loge overlooking the Hippodrome, a division of impoverished frontier ghazis appeared in tattered clothes.

2001, Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red, tr. Erdağ M Göknar

The 14th century also witnessed Ottoman campaigns against fellow Turks and Muslims[…]In accordance with their portrayal of the early Ottomans as ghazi-warriors, 15th-century Ottoman chroniclers often ignored these conflicts (along with the Ottomans' alliances with Christians), claiming that the Ottomans acquired the territories of the neighboring Turkic principalities through peaceful means (purchase and/or marriage).

2010, Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters, Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 232:

A Muslim warrior who fights in war against non-Muslims, especially one who has won renown as a martial champion; often used as a title.


hyperdulia

en-noun

hyperdulia (usually uncountable, plural hyperdulias)

/hʌɪpəduːˈlʌɪə/

From Medieval Latin hyperdūlīa, from hyper-, from Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér, “above”) + dūlīa, from Ancient Greek δουλείᾱ (douleíā, “slavery”), from δοῦλος (doûlos, “slave”).

der

By the thirteenth century, the growth of devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, in both East and West led John of Damascus's admirer Thomas Aquinas to formalize a further refinement: the concept of an exceptional sort of veneration, hyperdulia, offered only to the greatest of God's creations, Mary, the mother of Jesus.

2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 451:

(Roman Catholicism) A level of veneration higher than dulia but less than latria, properly given to the Virgin Mary only.


hafiz

Persian, from Arabic حَافِظ (ḥāfiẓ), present participle of حَفِظَ (ḥafiẓa, “to guard, know by heart”).

He was a hafiz, one who knows the Qur’an by heart, and he sang it in a slow, simple chant.

2001, Yann Martel, Life of Pi, Canongate, published 2003, →ISBN, pages 61–62:

A Muslim who has memorized the whole Qur'an.


hypostatic

en-adj

hypostatic (comparative more hypostatic, superlative most hypostatic)

more hypostatic (comparative)
most hypostatic (superlative)

From mediaeval Latin hypostaticus, from Ancient Greek ὑποστατικός (hupostatikós), from ὑποστατός (hupostatós). Equivalent to hypostasis + -tic.

uder

1661, Robert Boyle, The Sceptical Chymist, "A Præface Introductory"
The grand doctrine of the chymists, touching their three hypostatical principles.

(theology) Pertaining to hypostasis, especially with reference to hypostatic union.


Horus

From Late Latin Hōrus, from Ancient Greek Ὧρος (Hôros), from Egyptian ḥr.

(Egyptian mythology) The ancient Egyptian falcon-headed god of the sun, sky, war, and kingship.


Ephraim

From Hebrew אֶפְרַיִם (Efráyim, “Ephraim”, literally “fruitful”), via Latin.

der

And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 41:52:

The younger son of Joseph in the Bible, eponymous ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel.


latria

en-noun

latria (usually uncountable, plural latrias)

From Late Latin, from Ancient Greek λατρεία (latreía, “service,” “worship”), from λατρευειν (latreuein, “wait on,” “serve with prayer”).

uder

(theology) The highest form of worship, named adoration, properly given to the triune God alone.


housel

From Middle English housel, from Old English hūsl (“housel, Eucharist, the Host, a sacrifice”), from Proto-Germanic *hunslą (“sacrifice”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwen- (“holy”). Cognate with Icelandic húsl (“housel”), Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌻 (hunsl, “sacrifice, offering”), Proto-Slavic *svętъ (“holy, sacred”) (OED).
The OED cites usage of the noun from the 10th to the 17th century. 19th century use is deliberately archaizing. The verb is attested from the 11th century, and in occasional usage persists into the 19th.

cog

The Holy Houſel ought to be kept vvith great Diligence and not be permitted to be ſtale, but another be alvvays hallovved anevv for Sick Men in about a Seven-night, or Fortnight, ſo as that it may not be muſty at leaſt.

1720, Elfric [i.e., Ælfric of Abingdon], John Johnson, “A.D. DCCCCLVII. Elfric’s Canons.”, in A Collection of All the Ecclesiastical Laws, Canons, Answers, Or Rescripts, with Other Memorials Concerning the Government, Discipline, and Worship of the Church of England, […], 1st part, London: […] Robert Knaplock […], and Samuel Ballard […], →OCLC:

She said that he had a fair sweet death through God His goodness with mass-priest to be shriven, holy housel and sick men’s oil to his limbs.

1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:


marae

Borrowed from Maori marae and Tahitian marae, from Proto-Oceanic *malaqe.

The path ended down by the sea at a crumbling ‘ingot’ of black coral, twenty yards in length & in height two men. ‘A marae, this is called,’ Mr Wagstaff informed me. ‘All over the South Seas you see ’em, I’m told.’

2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN:

(archaic) A Polynesian sacred altar or enclosure.

The courtyard of a Maori wharenui or meeting-house and the buildings around it.


megillah

en-noun

megillah (plural megillahs or megillot or megilloth)

megillahs (plural)
megillot (plural)
megilloth (plural)

From Hebrew מגילה / מְגִלָּה (m'gilá, “scroll”). Doublet of magilla.

he-m

מגילה / מְגִלָּה (m'gilá, “scroll”)

Song of Songs, one of the five Megillot ("Scrolls") of Ketuvim ("Writings") recited either before or after Minhah on the eve of every Sabbath, after the Seder on Passover, and publicly in the synagogue in the Ashkenazic tradition.

1996, Macy Nulman, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer, page 305:

(Judaism) any of the Five Scrolls of the Hebrew Scriptures (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther)

(Judaism, specifically) the Book of Esther


hypostasis

en-noun

hypostasis (countable and uncountable, plural hypostases or hypostaseis)

hypostases (plural)
hypostaseis (plural)

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

From Ecclesiastical Latin hypostasis, from Ancient Greek ὑπόστασις (hupóstasis, “sediment, foundation; substance, existence, essence”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + στάσις (stásis, “standing”). Morphologically hypo- + -stasis.

bor

What did the God who hammered the universe together have to do with virtue, redemption, the strange doctrine of hypostasis?

1985, Anthony Burgess, Kingdom of the Wicked:

As Gregory of Nyssa had explained, the three hypostases of Father, Son, and Spirit were not objective facts but simply “terms that we use” to express the way in which the “unnameable and unspeakable” divine nature (ousia) adapts itself to the limitations of our human minds.

2000, Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God, Harper, published 2004, page 69:

As a result of this verbal pact, the Trinity consists of three equal hypostaseis in one ousia: three equal Persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) sharing one Essence or Substance (Trinity or Godhead).

2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 218:

(theology) The essential person, specifically the single person of Christ (as distinguished from his two ‘natures’, human and divine), or of the three ‘persons’ of the Trinity (sharing a single ‘essence’).

أُقْنُوم

essential person, the single person of Christ


undergarment

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

(religion, in the plural) Temple garments worn by the followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


dana

Transliteration of Sanskrit दान (dāna) or Pali dāna.

The virtue of generosity or giving, a form of alms, in Indian philosophy.


mezuzah

en-noun

mezuzah (plural mezuzahs or mezuzot or mezuzoth)

mezuzahs (plural)
mezuzot (plural)
mezuzoth (plural)

From post-Biblical Hebrew מְזוּזָה (məzûzâ, “doorpost”), with reference to Deuteronomy 6:9, a mitzvah (Biblical commandment as interpreted in Jewish law) ordering to “write the words of God on the gates and doorposts of your house”.

On the other hand, one may feel profoundly moved with the spirit of true piety, love of God and loyalty to his commandments in the performance of a so-called "traditional commandment," like the fastening of a "mezuzah" to the door-post.

1916, Isaac Husik, A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy:

Slothrop gives him the mandala. He hopes it will work like the mantra that Enzian told him once, mba-kayere (I am passed over), mba-kayere . . . a spell against Marvy tonight, against Tchitcherine. A mezuzah. Safe passage through a bad night. . . .

1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, 1st US edition, New York: Viking Press, →ISBN, part 3: In the Zone, page 563:

Lubavitchers, Penansky says, believe mezuzahs need no adornment and simply wrap them in cellophane.

1988 September 2, Florence Hamlish Levinsohn, “A Special Connection With God”, in Chicago Reader:

When Manny or either of his parents went through their front door they put a finger on their lips and then to the mezuzah on the door frame.

2006, Howard Jacobson, Kalooki Nights, Vintage, published 2007, page 20:

(Judaism and occasionally Christianity) A piece of parchment inscribed with specific Hebrew verses from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 11:13–21) and attached in a case to the doorpost of a house.

مِزُوزَة

piece of parchment attached to the doorpost of a house


christening

From Middle English cristenynge, from Old English cristnung; compare christen + -ing.

as demure as an old whore at a christening

The Christian sacrament at which someone, usually a child, is baptized and given a Christian name.


lustrum

refn

From the collection of the Louvre in Paris, France.

[A]ll theſe Magiſtrates were elected by, and from, the whole promiſcuous Body of the People in their public Aſſemblies; that after the Inſtitution of Cenſors, it was look'd upon as a Matter of Form only, that they should enroll the new Senators at the next general Luſtrum, or Survey of the Commonwealth; […]

1746 February 28, “A Treatise on the Roman Senate, in Two Parts. By Conyers Middleton, D.D. Principal Library-keeper of the University of Cambridge. Printed for R. Manby, and H. S. Cox, 1747. Octavo. 169 Pages.”, in The Museum: Or, The Literary and Historical Register, volume II, number XXV, London: Printed for R[obert] Dodsley […], →OCLC, page 409:

The interval of time supposed to have been denoted by the Roman Lustrum has been made the subject of controversy. No one however as far as we know has ever assumed it at less than four years or as more than five; so that the status quæstionis may so far be considered as fixed and agreed upon: and all that we have to do at present is to begin with inquiring whether the Roman Lustrum was more properly a period of five years or one of four.

1854, Edward Greswell, “Dissertation X. On the Lustral Cycle of the Romans and on the Initia Censoria”, in Origines Kalendariæ Italicæ, Nundinal Calendars of Ancient Italy, Nundinal Calendar of Romulus, Calendar of Numa Pompilius, Calendar of the Decemvirs, Irregular Roman Calendar, and Julian Correction. Tables of the Roman Calendar, from U.C. 4 of Varro B.C. 750 to U.C. 1108 A.D. 355. … In Four Volumes, volume II, Oxford: At the University Press, →OCLC, chapter I, section II (On the Proper Measure of the Lustral Cycle), page 248:

(historical) A lustration: a ceremonial purification of the people of Rome performed every five years after the census.

lustre

ceremonial purification of all the people — see also lustration


menorah

en-noun

menorah (plural menoroth or menorot or menorahs)

menoroth (plural)
menorot (plural)
menorahs (plural)

From Hebrew מְנוֹרָה (m'norá). From the same Proto-Semitic root *nūr- (“fire”) as minaret.

‘Heathen muck,’ Liberalis said, as the pillaging began. The veil of the Temple was rent. The great menorah was taken away.

1985, Anthony Burgess, The Kingdom of the Wicked:

(Judaism) A holy candelabrum with seven branches used in the Temple of Jerusalem.

My father brings home a big brass antique menorah, shaped like an archway, heavy, on a pedestal, on a round base.

1992, Merrill Joan Gerber, The Kingdom of Brooklyn, Syracuse University Press, published 2000, →ISBN, pages 76–77:

In America every December my mother had decorated our home with metal Stars of David she hung on strings in the doorways and lit the menorah as we gathered at the table.

1996, Ann Kimmage, An Un-American Childhood, University of Georgia Press, published 1996, →ISBN, pages 49–50:

However, traditional Sefardi families follow the halacha that each household uses only one menorah lit by the head of the household, to represent everyone in unison.

2000, Noam Zion, Barbara Spectre, A Different Light: The Hanukkah Book of Celebration, Devora Publishing, →ISBN, page 237:

A far-right Polish MP has extinguished candles on a menorah lit for Hanukah in Poland’s parliament, disrupting proceedings before a planned vote of confidence in the new government.

2023 December 12, Shaun Walker, “Far-right Polish MP uses fire extinguisher to put out Hanukah candles”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(Judaism) A candelabrum with nine branches, used in Jewish worship on Hanukkah.


Isis

Learned borrowing from Latin Īsis from Ancient Greek Ἶσις (Îsis), from Egyptian st-t:H8-B1 (ꜣst).

Grant me profane kiss / Oh Isis, mother ov all / Thy lips like morphine / Teasing my slumbering heart

2009, Behemoth, Defiling Morality ov Black God:

(Egyptian mythology) An ancient Egyptian goddess, the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, worshiped as the ideal mother and wife and as the matron of nature and magic.


revere

en-verb

revere (third-person singular simple present reveres, present participle revering, simple past and past participle revered)

reveres (present singular third-person)
revering (participle present)
revered (participle past)
revered (past)

Borrowed from French révérer, ultimately from Latin revereor, from re- + vereor (“to fear”).

(transitive, also religion) To honour in a form lesser than worship, e.g., a saint, or an idol.

благоговея

venerate someone or something as an idol


Virgin Mary

en-proper noun

(the) Virgin Mary (plural Virgin Marys or Virgins Mary)

Virgin Marys (plural)
Virgins Mary (plural)

From virgin + Mary, from the belief that Mary was still a virgin when she bore Christ.

They no more supposed that there were as many Jupiters, as images of Jupiter, than the Papists imagine there to be as many Virgins Mary as they have statues and pictures of her.

1819 August, “Religious Retrospect”, in The Antijacobin Review; and Protestant Advocate: or, Monthly Political, and Literary Censor, volume LVI, number 56, London: […] G. Sidney, […]; […] Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […], page 570:

Now, since there are many ‘sects’ amongst Protestants, and many ‘orders,’ often rival ones, amongst the Roman Catholics, and since there are almost as many Virgins Mary as there are towns who own her sway, so we may expect to find in Palestine many rival ‘orders,’ ‘systems,’ or ‘temples.’

1868, Thomas Inman, Ancient Faiths Embodied in Ancient Names: or an Attempt to Trace the Religious Belief, Sacred Rites, and Holy Emblems of Certain Nations. […], volume I, London, Liverpool: […] the Author, page 348:

One of his tableaux for her entry was designed to illustrate the peace brought by the two Virgins Mary: there was the Annunciation to the Virgin at the top of the pageant, a king and queen seated in the centre with Justice and Truth on either side of them, and at the bottom ‘ung iardin nommé le iardin de france’ containing shepherds and shepherdesses singing.

1977, Helen Cooper, Pastoral: Mediaeval Into Renaissance, D. S. Brewer, →ISBN, page 85:

[…] three Virgins Mary, by Bicci di Lorenzo, Lorenzo Monaco, and Filippo Lippi (hall IV); […]

1999, Touring Club of Italy, Florence: A Complete Guide to the Renaissance City, the Surrounding Countryside, and the Chianti Region, Touring Editore, published April 2000, →ISBN, page 139:

Meanwhile, images of black women in this period in Spain and Spanish America appeared in painted portraits, prints, and statues of dark Virgin Marys.

2016, Larissa Brewer-García, “Imagined Transformations: Color, Beauty, and Black Christian Conversion in Seventeenth-Century Spanish America”, in Pamela A. Patton, editor, Envisioning Others: Race, Color, and the Visual in Iberia and Latin America, Leiden, Boston, Mass.: Brill, →ISBN, page 122:

(Christianity) Synonym of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Maagd Maria

Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Virgin, Mother of God, Our Lady, Saint Mary, Theotokos


sanctify

en-verb

sanctify (third-person singular simple present sanctifies, present participle sanctifying, simple past and past participle sanctified)

sanctifies (present singular third-person)
sanctifying (participle present)
sanctified (participle past)
sanctified (past)

From Anglo-Norman seintefier, from Old French saintefier, from Late Latin sānctificō, from Latin sānctus (“holy”) + faciō (“do, make”). Form altered to conform with Latin.

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 2:3:

(transitive) To make holy; to consecrate; to set aside for sacred or ceremonial use.


detraction

en-noun

detraction (countable and uncountable, plural detractions)

/dɪˈtɹækʃən/

From Middle English detraction, detraccion, detraccioun, from Old French detraccion, from Latin dētractiō.

(Roman Catholicism) The act of revealing previously unknown faults of another person to a third person.


prothonotary

From Middle English prothonotarie, from Medieval Latin protonotarius, from Byzantine Greek πρωτονοτάριος (prōtonotários), from Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos) + Byzantine Greek νοτάριος (notários), from Latin notārius (“notary”).

der

πρωτονοτάριος

(Roman Catholicism) One of the seven prelates, constituting a college in the Roman Curia, whose office is to register pontifical acts and to make and preserve the official record of beatifications.


Vedic

Of or relating to the Sanskrit language of the Vedas


pallium

Borrowed from Latin pallium (“a cloak”). Doublet of pall.

Tut, tut, I have absolved thee: dost thou scorn me, / Because I had my Canterbury pallium / From one whom they dispoped?

1877, Alfred Tennyson, Harold: A Drama, London: Henry S. King & Co., →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 76:

Gregory sent Augustine a special liturgical stole, the pallium, a piece of official ecclesiastical dress borrowed from the garments worn by imperial officials.

2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 339:

Wynfrith, an Anglo-Saxon monk later known as St Boniface, who was the first archbishop of Mainz and a key figure in the Empire's church history, was given cloth that had lain across St Peter's tomb as his pallium in 752.

2016, Peter H. Wilson, The Holy Roman Empire, Penguin, published 2017, page 23:

(Christianity) A woolen liturgical vestment resembling a collar and worn over the chasuble in the Western Christian liturgical tradition, conferred on archbishops by the Pope, equivalent to the Eastern Christian omophorion.


Brahman

Borrowed from Sanskrit ब्रह्मन् (bráhman).

(Hinduism) The unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different philosophical schools.


Adar

(Judaism) The sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical year in the Jewish calendar, after Shevat and before Nisan.

ܐܵܕ݂ܵܪ

sixth month of civil year in the Jewish calendar


Islamic fundamentalism

A revolutionary movement towards Islamism, with literal and traditional interpretations of their sacred texts. It is often used to describe Muslim groups that advocate the replacement of secular state laws with Islamic law, or Shari'a.


Unitarian

Related to New Latin ūnitārius (from Latin ūnitās (“unity”)) -an. First documented as unitaria religio, in a decree of the Diet of Lécfalva (1600). In English since 1687

The Unitarians never kneel. But I want to kneel.

2020, Jenny Offill, Weather, Granta Books (2021), page 197:

Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism

A follower of Unitarian Universalism or a similar non-credal religion that originated historically from Christian Unitarianism.

unitari universalista

a modern follower of Unitarian Universalism


Zebadiah

/ˌzɛbəˈdaɪə/

From Hebrew זְבַדְיָה (Zəḇaḏyâ, “gift of God, God has bestowed”), from זַבְדִּי (zab̲dî, “my gift”). Doublet of Zebedee.

bor

A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.


logion

/ˈləʊ.ɡɪ.ən/

]
From Ancient Greek λόγιον (lógion, “oracle”), from λόγος (lógos, “word; the word or wisdom of God”) (from λέγω (légō, “I say”), from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to gather”)) + -ιον (-ion, suffix forming diminutive nouns).

It is clear from Origen's wording that he is not referring to a logion of the original Montanist leaders, but to a statement made by later adherents of the New Prophecy. […] The logion is probably authentic.

2006, William Tabbernee, “‘Recognizing the Spirit’: Second-generation Montanist Oracles”, in F. Young, M. Edwards, P. Parvis, editors, Studia Patristica: Papers Presented at the Fourteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies Held in Oxford 2003, volume XL, Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Publishers, →ISBN, part VIII (First Two Centuries), page 525:

Influenced by scholarship on the sayings of Jesus and the redaction of the Gospels, [John] Wansbrough assumes that the Qu'rān was edited and constructed from a plethora of short texts that he terms "prophetic logia." These logia draw on monotheistic imagery and are related to forms familiar from the literature of prophetical expression. […] The goal of the critic is to identify these logia by examining the canonical text in which they have been edited and spliced together

2016, Devin J. Stewart, “Wansbrough, Bultmann, and the Theory of Variant Traditions in the Qu’rān”, in Angelika Neuwirth, Michael A[nthony] Sells, editors, Qu’rānic Studies Today (Routledge Studies in the Qu’rān), Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 22:

(theology) A traditional saying of a religious leader.

The Q materials are often thought to have almost exclusively consisted of logia.

The Gospels are evidently independent in their use of their source in the Logia of Matthew; but they all give the logion the same place in their Gospels.

1904, Journal of Biblical Literature, volume 23, [Boston, Mass.]: Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 195:

It is in this context that the difficult logion in Matthew concerning the eye (vv. 22–23) is to be understood.

2002, Rudolf Schnackenburg, “Jesus’ Proclamation and Works of Healing (4:17–9:34)”, in Robert R. Barr, transl., The Gospel of Matthew, Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 70:

The central key to unraveling the perplexities of the Thomas gospel is contained basically in the first three logia. According to logion 1, which is actually a statement by the apostle Thomas, not by Jesus, the one who finds the interpretation or meaning of Jesus' secret sayings will not taste of death.

2011, Samuel Zinner, “The Gospel of Thomas: A Contextual Commentary”, in The Gospel of Thomas: In the Light of Early Jewish, Christian and Islamic Esoteric Trajectories: With a Contextualized Commentary and a New Translation of the Thomas Gospel (Matheson Monographs), London: The Matheson Trust for the Study of Comparative Religion, →ISBN, page 261:

(specifically, Christianity) A saying that is attributed to Jesus in ancient or reconstructed texts that was (originally) handed down without narrative context.

logion

a saying that is attributed to Jesus but which is not in the Bible


Zebedee

Ultimately from Ancient Greek Ζεβεδαῖος (Zebedaîos), from Hebrew זְבַדְיָה (Zəḇaḏyâ), from זַבְדִּי (zab̲dî, “my gift”). Doublet of Zebadiah.

der

Hebrew זְבַדְיָה (Zəḇaḏyâ)

And going from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 4:21:

(biblical) The father of the Apostles James and John in the Bible.


Saint Mary

Shen Merija

Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Mother of God, Our Lady, Virgin Mary, Theotokos

Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda#English


traducianism

Augustine's insistence on its spiritual nature made it hard for him to uphold, along with Tertullian, the doctrine of physical traducianism.

2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Penguin (2004), page 37n

Tertullian suggested that the human soul is transmitted by parents to their children and is therefore inescapably associated with continuing human sin: this doctrine of ‘traducianism’ underlay the pessimistic view of the human condition and its imprisonment in original sin which was presented in an extreme form by that later theological giant from North Africa, Augustine of Hippo.

2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 145:

(theology) The doctrine that the soul or spirit is inherited from one or both parents.


prologue

From Middle English prologue, prologe, from Old French prologue, from Latin prologus, from Ancient Greek πρόλογος (prólogos).

(Eastern Orthodoxy) A liturgical book containing daily readings, including hagiography.


engram

Borrowed from German Engramm which was coined by German evolutionary biologist Richard Semon in 1904. First attested in English in 1921 (see quotation below). Ultimately from Ancient Greek ἐν (en, “in”) + γράμμα (grámma, “writing, picture”).

(Scientology) A painful, negative mental image representing a past event.


Ariel

General American, Mary–marry–merry merger

Alexander Pope
Ariel
John Herschel
The Rape of the Lock
The Tempest
William Lassell
William Shakespeare

From Biblical Hebrew אֲרִיאֵל (ari'él, a compound of אֲרִי (arí, “lion”) + אֵל (él, “God”), literally “lion of God”).
* (moon of Uranus): All of Uranus’s moons are named after characters created by William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope. The names of all four satellites of Uranus then known were suggested by John Herschel in 1852 at the request of William Lassell, though it is uncertain if Herschel devised the names, or if Lassell did so and then sought Herschel’s permission. Ariel is the name of the leading sylph in Pope’s The Rape of the Lock and also the spirit who serves Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

bor

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 29:1:

(biblical) A name for the city of Jerusalem, the claimed (and de-facto) capital city of modern Israel, and the claimed capital city of modern Palestine.


Susanna

From Ancient Greek Σουσάννα (Sousánna), the New Testament form of Hebrew שׁוֹשַׁנָּה (šōšannā, “lily”).

uder

Hebrew שׁוֹשַׁנָּה (šōšannā, “lily”)

(biblical) A follower of Jesus (Luke 8:3)


swim the Tiber

en-verb

swim the Tiber (third-person singular simple present swims the Tiber, present participle swimming the Tiber, simple past swam the Tiber, past participle swum the Tiber)

swims the Tiber (present singular third-person)
swimming the Tiber (participle present)
swam the Tiber (past)
swum the Tiber (participle past)

(intransitive) To convert to Catholicism.


Enos

From Hebrew אֱנוֹשׁ (enósh, “mortal man”).


call to prayer

A public proclamation made five times a day in Muslim societies, broadcast from the mosques, to mark out the ordained occasions for worship.


Ephesians

(biblical) The tenth book of the New Testament of the Bible, an epistle to the people of Ephesus which is attributed to Paul the Apostle.


missiology

en-noun

missiology (countable and uncountable, plural missiologies)

The area of practical theology which studies the mandate, message and work of the Christian missionary.


Brahma

Borrowed from Sanskrit ब्रह्मा (brahmā).

(Hinduism) Hindu god (deva) of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva.


Ashura

From Arabic عَاشُورَاء (ʕāšūrāʔ, “tenth, tenth day”).

bor

(Islam) A holy day falling on the 10th day of Muharram, commemorating the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali in 680 AD.

عَاشُورَاء

(Islam) a holy day falling on the 10th day of Muharram


inshallah

From Arabic إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللَٰه (ʔin šāʔa llāh, literally “if God has willed [it]”).

إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللَٰه

We will sign the contract tomorrow, inshallah.

(chiefly Islam) Expressing the speaker’s wish for a given future event to occur, and also generally their emphasis on its contingency upon the divine will.


mamzer

No descendant of a mamzer may ever enter the assembly, no matter how many generations later.

2001, David L. Lieber and Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 1122:

(Judaism) A child born to Jewish parents whose relationship is incestuous or otherwise forbidden by Jewish law (e.g. an unmarried man and a married woman), or the descendant of such a person.


Shinto

Borrowing from Japanese 神道 (Shintō), from Middle Chinese 神道 (MC zyin dawX, “ways of the gods”), ultimately from Old Chinese 神道 (OC *hlin l'uːʔ, “ways [doings] of Heaven [in matters of fortune or fate]”).

och-l

ways 􂀿doings􂁀 of Heaven 􂀿in matters of fortune or fate􂁀

The number of Shinto deities is very great. The Yengishiki enumerates 3,132 officially recognized shrines, and although the same Gods are reckoned more than once, as being worshipped in different places, still their name is legion.

1905, W.G. Aston, Shinto: The Way of the Gods, page 66:

Formerly the state religion of Japan, a type of animism involving the worship of ancestors and nature spirits.


flagon

Nordic Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum

From Middle English flagon, flakon [and other forms], from Middle French flacon, Old French flacon, flascon (“flask”) (modern French flacon (“vial”)), from Medieval Latin flascōnem, the accusative singular of Late Latin flascō (“bottle; glass or earthenware vessel for wine; portable barrel”), from Frankish *flaska (“bottle; flask”), from Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ (“bottle; flask; vessel covered with plaiting”), from Proto-Germanic *flehtaną (“to braid, plait”) (from the practice of plaiting or wrapping bottles in straw casing), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to fold; to plait, weave”). The English word is a doublet of flacon, flask, and fiasco.
cognates
* Old English flasce, flaxe (“bottle, flask”)
* Old High German flasca, flaska (“bottle, flask”) (German Flasche)
* Old Norse flaska (Danish flaske)

ref

From the collection of the Nordic Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

From the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England, United Kingdom.

酒壺

large vessel resembling a jug, usually with a handle, lid, and spout, for serving drinks such as cider or wine at a table; such a vessel used to hold the wine for the ritual of Holy Communion

гарафа

large bottle for drinks; bottle with a cap used by travellers

Did they coyn Piss-pots, Bowls, and Flaggons, / Int' Officers of Horse and Dragoons; / And into Pikes and Musqueteers / Stamp Beakers, Cups, and Porringers?

1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto II.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 43:

He was naturally a thirsty soul, and was soon tempted to repeat the draught. One taste provoked another, and he reiterated his visits to the flagon so often, that at length his senses were overpowered, his eyes swam in his head, his head gradually declined, and he fell into a deep sleep. […] the flagon—"Oh ! that flagon ! that wicked flagon !" thought Rip—"What excuse shall I make to Dame Van Winkle?"

1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Rip Van Winkle”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, pages 75–76:

Should I ever fill the throne, every Scots lad shall have his flagon in one hand, and the other around his lass's neck, and manhood shall be tried by kisses and bumpers, not by dirks and dourlachs; […]

1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter V, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 160:

"He's got a venison pastry and a flagon of sack in that cupboard behind him."

1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 35:

A large vessel resembling a jug, usually with a handle, lid, and spout, for serving drinks such as cider or wine at a table; specifically (Christianity), such a vessel used to hold the wine for the ritual of Holy Communion.

A peſtilence on him for a madde rogue, a pourd a flagon of Reniſh on my head once; […]

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

[H]e had eaten many a meal, drank many a flagon, and uttered many a reproach; […] [Epitaph of Timocreon of Rhodes.]

1750 September 15 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. [49]. Tuesday, September 4. 1750.”, in The Rambler, volume II, Edinburgh: [[…] Sands, Murray, and Cochran]; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1750, →OCLC, page 182:

A flagon and its contents; as much as fills such a vessel.


collegiate church

en-noun

collegiate church (plural collegiate churches)

A Christian church, other than a cathedral, that has a chapter of canons and a dean or provost.


immunity

immunity (countable and uncountable, plural immunities)

From Middle English immunite, from Old French immunité, from Latin immūnitās, in the legal sense; for the medical use see immunization.

Nevertheless, his reason rebelled, and his sense of religion by no means allowed the justice of refusing the amiable, handsome, and wealthy Englishman, whom his sweet child preferred, and who was perfectly willing that the signora should enjoy all the liberty required by her conscience and her church, together with such sums as should, from time to time, purchase the prayers of the faithful, and all other immunities, so far as his fortune furnished the means.

1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXIX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 81:

(uncountable) The state of being insusceptible to something; notably:


manna

manna (countable and uncountable, plural mannas)

From Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin manna, from Ancient Greek μάννα (mánna), from Hebrew מן (mān, “'manna”).

Australian manna

from Eucalyptus viminalis, E. gunnii, E. pulverulenta

manna mealybug

Trabutina crassispinosa or Trabutina mannipara

And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 16:14-15:

In the juriſdiction of Huquang there are ſeveral places where they gather up great store of Manna, which the Natives take for a Frozen Dew.

1669, John Nievhoff, translated by John Ogilby, An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China, London: John Macock, →OCLC, page 242:

The leaves of the foreſt were loaded with manna, pure amber dropped from every bough, honey diſtilled from the rifted rock, and the humming bee, drunk with joy, ſtrayed from flower to flower, forgetful of his burſting cells.

1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv:

(biblical) Food miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus.


tzaddik

From Hebrew צַדִּיק (tsadík, “righteous person”). Many pronunciations have come under the influence of Yiddish צדיק (tsadek).

uder

For in dreams one thinks with the eyes and the ears; speech has no nouns, just verbs; only in dreams is every person a zaddik, never a murderer….

1988, Milorad Pavić, translated by Christina Pribićević-Zorić, Dictionary of the Khazars, Vintage, published 1989, page 226:

(Judaism) A very righteous person, especially a Hassidic spiritual leader.


chaplet

From Middle English chapelet, from Old French chapelet. Doublet of chapelet.

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

The Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary consists of seven sets of Hail Marys.

(Catholicism) A set of repetitive prayers, other than the Rosary, typically prayed with a string of beads.

People often pray the chaplet at 3:00 pm to commemorate Jesus' death.

(specifically) The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the most well-known chaplet in the Catholic Church.


Esther

From Ancient Greek Ἐσθήρ (Esthḗr), from Biblical Hebrew אֶסְתֵּר (ʾestēr). Has been connected to Old Persian 𐎠𐎿𐎫𐎼 (a-s-t-r /star-/, “star”) (whence Middle Persian 𐭮𐭲𐭫 (stl /star/, “star”), 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪 (stʾlk /stārag/, “star”), Persian ستاره (setâre, “star”), Northern Kurdish estêre), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (if so, a distant doublet of star); or else to Akkadian 𒀭𒈹 (Ištar, “Ishtar”) (Hebrew עִשְׁתָּר (ʿištār)).

cog

Hebrew עִשְׁתָּר (ʿištār)

And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father or mother, and the maiden was fair and beautiful.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 2:7:

(biblical) The heroine of the Book of Esther.


renunciation

en-noun

renunciation (countable and uncountable, plural renunciations)

From Latin renūntiātiō. Compare renounce.

(Christianity) In the Anglican baptismal service, the part in which the candidate in person or by his sureties renounces the Devil and all his works.


Jude

en-proper noun

Jude (countable and uncountable, plural Judes)

Short form of Judas, used in an attempt to distinguish the Apostle Judas Thaddaeus from Judas Iscariot. From Old Testament Judah, Hebrew יְהוּדָה (yehudá), said to mean “praised”.

(biblical) The second last book of the New Testament of the Bible.

(biblical) One of the Apostles, also called Thaddaeus.


Thomæan

A member of an early Christian church supposedly founded by the Apostle Thomas on the Malabar coast of India.


Tariq

Borrowed from Arabic طَارِق (ṭāriq, “messenger, nocturnal visitor, or morning star”), from طَرَقَ (ṭaraqa, “to knock, to rap”)


shrift

en-noun

shrift (countable and uncountable, plural shrifts)

From Middle English shrift (“confession to a priest; act or instance of this; sacrament of penance; penance assigned by a priest; penitence, repentance; punishment for sin”) [and other forms], from Late Old English scryft, Old English sċrift (“penance, shrift; something prescribed as punishment, penalty; one who passes sentence, a judge”), from sċrīfan (“of a priest: to prescribe absolution or penance; to pass judgment, ordain, prescribe; to appoint, decree”) (whence shrive), from Proto-Germanic *skrībaną (“to write”), from Latin scrībō (“to write”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- (“to scratch, tear”).

nb...

schrift, schrifte, scheryft, schryft, schryfte, scrifft, scrifte, sherift, shirfte, shreft, shrif, shrifft, shrifte, shrive, shruft, shryft, shryfte, (Kent, Southwest England) ssriffe, ssrift, ssrifthe, ssrifþe, ssrifte, ssryft, ssryfte, (chiefly Northern England or Early Middle English) scrif, scrift, scrifte, shreft, (Early Middle English) screft, srift, srifte

der

[Friar:] Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift. / Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift.

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, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

(obsolete) Forgiveness given by a priest after confession; remission.

опроще́ние

forgiveness given by a priest after confession


Sabellian

(Christianity) A follower of the Roman Christian prelate and theologian Sabellius.

(Christianity) A Modalistic Monarchian; someone who believes that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the same person.


séance

From French séance (“sitting, session”).

[B]ut only too often séances degenerate into pure sorcery or necromancy, attracting all kinds of undeveloped and earth-bound entities.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 231:

A ceremony where people try to communicate with the spirits of dead people, usually led by a medium.

seancë spiritizmi

a ceremony where people try to communicate with the spirits


hagiographer

/ˌhæɡiˈɑɡɹəfɚ/

/ˌhæɡiˈɒɡɹəfə/

(theology) A writer of any of the Hagiographa․


tippet

From Middle English tippet, Old English tæppet, from Latin tapete (“cloth”).

[…] so this Iesuitical sect is descrired by their long [i]ackets, their course stockinges, their thicke cobled shoes, their long clokes with claspe vnder the chin, their sorbonical tippet […]

1581, Meredith Hanmer, chapter 3, in The Iesuites Banner, London:

A stole worn by Anglican ministers or other clergymen.


typology

en-noun

typology (countable and uncountable, plural typologies)

(religion) The doctrine of Scripture types or figures.


commentator

In form, from Middle English commentator, from Latin commentātor (“author, inventor, interpreter, jailer”), from commentātus + -or (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from commentāri (“to ponder, to study, to write upon”), from comminīscor (“to think over, to invent”) + -tārī (“to frequently be ~ed”). In meaning, influenced by comment and commentary.

der

A person who makes a commentary, particularly

(Christianity) A person who compiles explanations of biblical passages.


offertory

/ˈɑfəɹˌtɔɹi/

From Late Latin offertorium, from the participle stem of offere (“to offer”).

offertorium

the offering of sacremental bread and wine to God during a church service

дарение

money offered or donated during a church service

There was an impressive musical program, conducted by Sheldon Smeeth, educational director of the Y.M.C.A., who also sang the offertory.

1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC:

(Christianity) A prayer said or sung as an anthem while offerings of bread and wine are placed on the altar during the Roman Catholic Mass or the Anglican Communion service.

Offertorium

music sung or played during the offertory of a church service

Before a month had passed the congregation at the evening service at St. Asaph's Church was so slender that the offertory, as Mr. Furlong senior himself calculated, was scarcely sufficient to pay the overhead charge of collecting it.

1914, Stephen Leacock, Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich:

I sat through the sermon, and the offertory, and the recessional.

1922, Upton Sinclair, They Call Me Carpenter:

Even the coins in the offertory were accredited with magical value; there were numerous popular superstitions about the magical value of communion silver as a cure for illness or a lucky charm against danger.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 30:

(Christianity) The part of the Eucharist service when offerings of bread and wine are placed on the altar and when any collection is taken; also, the money or other things collected.

collecte

the part of a church service when offerings are collected

(Christianity, historical) A linen or silken cloth anciently used in various ceremonies connected with the administration of the Eucharist.


tribune

From Middle English tribune, from Old French tribun, tribune, from Latin tribunus (“tribune, tribal leader”), from tribus (“tribe”).

(Christianity, architecture) The domed or vaulted apse in a cathedral housing the bishop's throne (see).

tribuna

domed or vaulted apse in a Christian church


manji

From a form of Punjabi ਮੰਜਾ (mañjā, “raised bed”). The Sikh sense is based on their use as seats of authority.

In the Janam Sakhis and utterances of Guru Nanak there is no reference, implicit or explicit, to the subject of manjis.

1993, Sunita Puri, Advent of Sikh Religion: A Socio-political Perspective, page 155:

(Sikhism) A Sikh religious administrative unit.


manji

(Buddhism) A left-facing Japanese swastika, primarily used in Buddhism.


devotee

devotees of Krishna

devotees thronged the temple

It has been said that a Japanese is a Shintōist in life and a Buddhist at death; and it is also true that he may be during life, at one and the same time, a devotee of both.

1913, Ernest Wilson Clement, A Handbook of Modern Japan, page 253:

(religion) A believer in a particular religion or god.


Sim

A Simeonite (follower of Charles Simeon).

(by extension) A person with Methodist tendencies.


shamanic

Of or relating to a shaman or to shamanism.


Osiris

(Egyptian mythology) The Egyptian god of the dead and of the underworld.


freethinker

Danish: fritænker (calque)

French: libre-penseur (calque)

German: Freidenker (calque)

desc

вольноду́мец

Russian: вольноду́м (volʹnodúm), вольноду́мец (volʹnodúmec) (calque)

A person who has formed his or her opinions using reason and rational enquiry; somebody who has rejected dogma, especially with regard to religion.

ազատամիտ

The report projected that in the Asia-Pacific region, the proportion of freethinkers is projected to decline from 21 per cent in 2010 to 17 per cent in 2050.

2015 April 6, Siau Ming En, “Religiosity on rise in Asia-Pacific, proportion of freethinkers on decline”, in Today Online, archived from the original on 2015-04-10:

(Singapore, Malaysia) A person with no religion.


purgatory

en-noun

purgatory (countable and uncountable, plural purgatories)

/ˈpɝɡəˌtɔɹi/

/ˈpɜːɡət(ə)ɹi/

From Middle English purgatorie, from Old French purgatore, purgatorie, from Latin purgātōrium (“cleansing”). Cognate to English purge.

(Christianity) Alternative letter-case form of Purgatory


purgatory

en-adj

purgatory (comparative more purgatory, superlative most purgatory)

more purgatory (comparative)
most purgatory (superlative)

/ˈpɝɡəˌtɔɹi/

/ˈpɜːɡət(ə)ɹi/

Last of all, the prodigie of Siracusa was expiat by a purgatory sacrifice, by direction from the soothsaiers to what gods, supplications and sacrifice should be made.

1600, Philemon Holland, transl., The Roman Historie Written by T. Livius of Padua, London, Book 41, p. 1103:

This purgatory interval is not unfavourable to a faithless representative, who may be as good a canvasser as he was a bad governor.

1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, London: J. Dodsley, page 272:


tzedakah

en-noun

tzedakah (usually uncountable, plural tzedakahs)

Borrowed from Hebrew צְדָקָה (ts'daká, “charity”).

Wherever Jews have lived in relative freedom and free markets—the United States, Britain and its commonwealth, the Ottoman Near East, post-Enlightenment Western Europe—we've done pretty well. We've built great communities. We've devoted ourselves to Torah. We've pursued tzedakah, charity, with abandon.

2012 August 29, Jeffrey Goldberg, quoting Noam Neusner, “Mitt Romney, the Tikkun Olam President?”, in The Atlantic:

I began to fill this little wooden tzedakah box with tiny slips of paper, each containing a single word or phrase as a “prompt” for remembering some gifted moment or intense experience of my life.

2020, Michele Maxwell, The Tzedakah Box, Balboa Press, →ISBN:

(Judaism) The Jewish tradition of charity.


PBUH

peace be upon him
peace be upon him#English

peace be upon her
peace be upon her#English

(Islam, sometimes proscribed) Initialism of peace be upon him or peace be upon her; an honorific phrase used by some Muslims after any mention in speech or print of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or any other prophets or chosen figures believed by the majority of Muslims to be sent by God (Allah).


archdiocese

/ˌɑɹt͡ʃˈdaɪəsɪs/

Ultimately from Medieval Latin archdiocesis, variant of archidioecēsis, from archi- (“chief, main”) + Late Latin dioecēsis, q.v., equivalent to arch- + diocese.

(Christianity) A group of dioceses administered by an archbishop


Yule log

A large log traditionally burned on Christmas Eve.


confessor

From Middle English confessor, confessour, from Anglo-Norman confessour, and its source, Latin cōnfessor, from cōnfiteor (“confess, admit, acknowledge”).

They do not feel connected to any gay/lesbian communities. Nor do they feel able to establish relationships with anyone who can support them. Thus an inexperienced but sincere young heterosexual actor can find himself playing not only role model but also confessor and phantom friend to people in great need.

1994 October, Larry Gross, “Coming Out On the Soaps”, in Gay Community News, page 14:

(Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism) A priest who hears confession and then gives absolution


Clare

The anglicized spelling of Irish Clár, from Old Irish clár (“plank, board”), from Proto-Celtic *klāros, *klārom (“table”).

A district municipality in Digby County, Nova Scotia, Canada, named after County Clare.

A number of places in the United States, likely to be named after County Clare:

A city mostly in Clare County, Michigan; after its county and County Clare.

Clare and Gilbert Valleys
Clare and Gilbert Valleys#English

A town in Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area, Mid North region, South Australia.


Clare

Medieval English vernacular form of Clara, from the Latin clara, feminine of clarus (“bright, shining, clear”), a post-classical name made famous by the 13th century Saint Clara of Assisi.
In Oxfordshire, from Clarora, a clay slope.

The chief house of the Clares in England stood near Aldgate; it was built by Blanche, queen of Navarre, and her husband Edmund, earl of Lancaster, Leicester and Darby, son to Henry III. and brother to Edward I. These nuns were Urbanists, and enjoyed revenues. They were called Clares or Minoresses, and their house the Minories...

1759, Alban Butler, The Lives of the... Saints, volume IV, page 87:

(Catholicism) Synonym of Poor Clare: a nun of the Order of Saint Clare.


monotheist

From mono- (“one, singular”) + theist (“believer in God or gods”) after the model of earlier atheist, polytheist, &c.

prefix

A believer of monotheism, the doctrine that there is a single divine being in the universe.


locution

en-noun

locution (countable and uncountable, plural locutions)

Borrowed from Latin locūtiō, locūtiōnem (“speech”), from
loquor (“speak”). Compare the French cognate locution.

(religion) A supernatural revelation where a religious figure, statue or icon speaks, usually to a saint.


short shrift

short shrift (countable and uncountable, plural short shrifts)

/ˌʃɔːt ˈʃɹɪft/

/ˌʃɔɹt ˈʃɹɪft/

From short + shrift (“act of going to or hearing a religious confession; confession to a priest”). Shrift is derived from Middle English shrift (“confession to a priest; act or instance of this; sacrament of penance; penance assigned by a priest; penitence, repentance; punishment for sin”) [and other forms], from Late Old English scryft, Old English sċrift (“penance, shrift; something prescribed as punishment, penalty; one who passes sentence, a judge”), from sċrīfan (“of a priest: to prescribe absolution or penance; to pass judgment, ordain, prescribe; to appoint, decree”) (whence shrive), from Proto-Germanic *skrībaną (“to write”), from Latin scrībō (“to write”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- (“to scratch, tear”).

compound

Diſpatch my Lo[rd] the Duke would be at dinner: / Make a ſhort ſhrift, he longs to ſee your head.

c. 1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Sims [and Peter Short] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:

I pray you, tell my kind cousin, if he loves such companions, he had best keep them in his own estates; for here they are like to meet short shrift and a tight cord.

1823, [Walter Scott], “The Envoy”, in Quentin Durward. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 213:

"Doubt not my sanctity," interrupted the Friar, "or I shall be necessitated to convince thee, by shewing thee a cast of my office which will make thee repent of thy error. I am used to give short shrifts and sharp cords."

1829, T. D., “A Tale of Robin Hood”, in The Whitby Magazine, and Monthly Literary Journal, volume III, Whitby, North Yorkshire: Ralph Horne, […], →OCLC, page 108:

"I demand a brief space and a confessor, to make my peace with heaven." […] "Grant his request," said the archbishop, in a careless tone, which showed that he only spoke to save appearances; "my chaplain, upon whose discretion I can rely, will make short shrift with them."

1853, J[ohn] F[rederick] Smith, “[Elizabeth Woodville] Chapter III”, in Romantic Incidents in the Lives of the Queens of England, New York, N.Y.: Garrett & Company, […], →OCLC, pages 34–35:

[A]n hour was allotted him to make peace with the Unknown; ropes were placed around the necks of the three, and at the end of the time they were given short shrift, and were soon hanging between heaven and earth.

1893, “Story of the Pony Express”, in John M. Burke (“Arizona John”), compiler, “Buffalo Bill” from Prairie to Palace: An Authentic History of the Wild West […], Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Rand, McNally & Company, →OCLC, page 120:

(countable, uncountable, chiefly Roman Catholicism, historical) A rushed sacrament of confession given to a prisoner who is to be executed very soon.


Pollux

From Latin Pollūx, from Ancient Greek Πολυδεύκης (Poludeúkēs).

(Greek mythology) One of the Dioscuri, son of Zeus and Leda, brother of Castor.


Hyades

From Middle English Hyades, Yades, from Latin Hyades, from Ancient Greek Ὑάδες (Huádes), nominative and vocative plural of Ὑ̄̆ᾰ́ς (Hūás, “one of the Hyades”).

(Greek mythology) Daughters of the Titan Atlas and sisters of the Pleiades.


Arian

From Late Latin Arianus, from Arius + -ānus (“-an: forming adjectives”), from Ancient Greek Ἄρειος (Áreios), from ἄρειος (áreios, “Arean, warlike”), from Ἄρης (Árēs, “Ares”) + -ιος (-ios, “-y: forming adjectives”). Cf. Arean.

(Christianity, historical) A supporter of the Cyrenaic monk Arius and his faction in the 4th-century Church.

(Christianity) A believer of Arianism, particularly (historical) the official Arian churches lasting to the 7th century.

(Christianity, inexact, usually derogatory) Synonym of unitarian, any Christian who denies the Trinity.

(Christianity, inexact, derogatory, dated) Synonym of heretic, any Christian differing from any of the beliefs of the speaker.


Arian

(Christianity) Of or pertaining to Arius or Arianism.


Philemon

en-proper noun

Philemon (countable and uncountable, plural Philemons)

From Ancient Greek Φιλήμων (Philḗmōn), from φιλήμων (philḗmōn, “kindly, affectionate”), from φιλέω (philéō, “I love”).

The eighteenth book of the New Testament of the Bible, the epistle of Saint Paul to a fellow Christian called Philemon.


demiurge

From Ancient Greek δημιουργός (dēmiourgós, “one who works for the people; a skilled workman, a handicraftsman”) (whence Latin dēmiūrgus, French démiurge), from δήμιος (dḗmios, “belonging to the people, public”) (from δῆμος (dêmos, “the people”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂mos (“people”), from *deh₂- (“to divide”) + Ancient Greek -ιος (-ios), from Proto-Indo-European *-yós (suffix creating an adjective from a noun)) + Ancient Greek -ουργός (-ourgós, “worker”) (from ἔργον (érgon, “labour; task; work”), from Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom (“work”)).
No relation with English demi- (as in demigod).

der

The Gnostic Demiurge then assumes a surprising likeness to Ahriman, the evil counter-creator of Ormuzd in Mazdean philosophy. The character of the Gnostic Demiurge became still more complicated when in some systems he was identified with Jehovah, the God of the Jews or of the Old Testament, and was brought in opposition to Christ of the New Testament, the Only-Begotten Son of the Supreme and Good God.

1908, Charles G[eorge] Herbermann, editor, The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, New York, N.Y.: Robert Appleton Company, →OCLC, page 708, column 1:

This was the earnest attempt of a Christian to explain in some detail how God might act using natural law, although his critics noted that such a Creator had more in common with a gnostic demiurge than the transcendent God of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

2003, Richard England, editor, Design after Darwin: 1860–1900, volumes 1 (Metaphors and Metaphysics of Design. Key Statement of the 1860s.), Bristol: Thoemmes Press, →OCLC, page xiv:

Common to all authentic Gnostic schools are teachings on the demiurgos and archons. However, exactly what the demiurgos and archons are in the symbolic and mystical language of the various Gnostic traditions can be very different from one tradition to another. The word demiurgos means "creator of the world," "false creator," or "false god." Archons mean "rulers" and indicate spiritual or cosmic forces associated with the demiurgos. […] [S]ome schools view the demiurgos quite literally as the God of the Old Testament, while others do not view Yahweh as the demiurgos at all.

2005, Tau Malachi, “The Demiurgos and Evil”, in Living Gnosis: A Practical Guide to Gnostic Christianity, Woodbury, Minn.: Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN, page 93:

(Gnosticism) A (usually jealous or outright malevolent) being who is inferior to the supreme being, and sometimes seen as the creator of evil.


therianthrope

/ˈθɛɹ.i.ənˌθɹoʊp/

From Ancient Greek θηρίον (thēríon, “wild beast”) + Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “man”).

af

Among the depictions are a black rhinoceros, the body of an antelope covered by a red line, two white animals with black stripes that may be zebras, and a therianthrope. The therianthrope (Figure 9.11) appears to have a feline body with human hind legs that may have been added after the original legs had faded somewhat (Wendt 1974:27).

2016, Carmel Schrire, Past and Present in Hunter Gatherer Studies, Routledge, →ISBN:

One appears to have a large beak while another has an appendage resembling a tail. In the language of archaeology, these are therianthropes, or characters that embody a mix of human and animal characteristics. […] The otherworldly nature of the therianthropes also raises the possibility that they are mythical beings, or manifestations of “animal spirit helpers” that are common in shamanic beliefs, according to the study.

2019 December 11, Becky Ferreira, “Mythical Beings May Be Earliest Imaginative Cave Art by Humans”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(mythology) Any mythical being which is part human, part animal.

homme-bête

any mythical being which is part human, part animal


sultan

en-noun

sultan (countable and uncountable, plural sultans or (rare, only in certain senses) salateen)

→ Chinese: 蘇丹／苏丹 (sūdān)

From French sultan, from Ottoman Turkish سلطان (sultan), from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān, “strength, authority, ruler”). (compare Hebrew שִׁלְטוֹן (shiltón) and Hebrew סוּלְטָן (sultán)). Doublet of soldan.

der

Here from the king's mountain view
Here from the wild dream come true
Feast like a sultan, I do
On treasures and flesh never few

A hereditary ruler in various Muslim states (sultanate), varying from petty principalities (as in Yemen), often vassal of a greater ruler, to independent realms, such as Oman, Brunei, Morocco (until 1956) or an empire such as the Turkish Ottoman Empire.


Yuletide

en-noun

Yuletide (countable and uncountable, plural Yuletides)

Though attested late (c. 1475), probably dates back to Old English *ġēoltīd (literally “Christmas season”). See there for more; also Yule and tide.

inh

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, / Fa la la la la la la la la! / 'Tis the season to be jolly, / Fa la la la la la la la la! / Don we now our gay apparel, / Fa la la la la la la la la! / Troll the ancient yuletide carol, / Fa la la la la la la la la!

1862, modified from Thomas Oliphant's original, “Deck the Halls”, in Jerry Snyder’s Easy Chord Christmas Guitar Book, Miami Beach, Fla.: Hansen House, published [19—?], →OCLC, page 17:

What did the first locked drawer contain? […] a Yuletide card, bearing on it a pictorial representation of a parasitic plant, the legend Mizpah, the date Xmas 1892, the name of the senders: from Mr and Mrs M. Comerford, the versicle: May this Yuletide bring to thee, Joy and peace and welcome glee: […]

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 17: Ithaca]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 673:

It's Christmas at ground zero / Just seconds left to go / I'll duck and cover / With my Yuletide lover / Underneath the mistletoe

1986, "Weird Al" Yankovic (lyrics and music), “Christmas at Ground Zero”, in Polka Party!:

(dated) The period around Christmas; the Christmas season, Christmastime; specifically, Christmas itself.


Mithraism

Translation (1903) of French mithriacisme, as used in 1899 by Franz Cumont as shorthand for "mystères de Mithra". Cumont was convinced that Mithraism was "Roman Mazdaism", hence his (and earlier) treatments of Latin Mithras and Avestan Mithra as synonyms, and the continuing de-inflection of the Latin name (vocative) as French Mithra.

It has left many monuments of itself here in Britain. At Rome the worship was extremely popular, and it may almost be said to have been a matter of chance whether Mithraism should overwhelm Christianity, or whether the younger religion by adopting many of the rites of the older one should establish itself (as it did) in the face of the latter.

1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 41:

"Confirmation is mithraism. So is baptism, only it was blood instead of water. As to the sacrificial meal..." Mason put his fingers in his ears.

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

An astrology-based, middle-platonic mystery religion of the 1st-4th century Roman Empire that claimed to have been founded by Zoroaster, admitted only men, and was especially popular among the Roman military.


Mithras

Learned borrowing from Latin Mithras. Doublet of Mehr, mitre, and Mitra.

A Roman god, cult figure of the 2nd-to-4th-century Roman mystery religion known as the "Mysteries of Mithras" (now colloquially Mithraism)


yeshiva

From Yiddish ישיבה (yeshive), from Hebrew יְשִׁיבָה (y'shivá, “meeting”).

Nonetheless, in 1976, after graduating with a B.A. in religious studies, he entered Yale's doctoral program in the same department. A year later, he left Yale to study Talmud in a Manhattan yeshiva.

1995 May 21, Steven Levy, “The Unabomber and David Gelernter”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Shalom grew up in an Orthodox family in Stamford Hill. His father, who ran an office-furniture business, intended him for a synagogue cantor, and when Shalom finished school he was sent to the yeshiva.

2015, Will Self, ‘Diary’, London Review of Books, vol. 37 no.5

Last month, the Forward reported, a former student at Mechon Hadar—a co-ed egalitarian yeshiva in New York—emailed the school's listserv with a plea for the institution to cut ties with [Leslie] Wexner in light of the unspooling allegations against [Jeffrey] Epstein.

2019 August 7, Marissa Brostoff, Noah Kulwin, “The Right Kind of Continuity”, in Jewish Currents:

(education, Judaism) An academy for the advanced study of Jewish texts.


shiva

en-noun

shiva (countable and uncountable, plural shivas)

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

From Hebrew שִׁבְעָה (shiv'á, “seven”), referring to the number of days that shiva spans.

Did you know that some parents sit shiva […] for 30 days if their child is discovered to be gay?

1974 February 2, “Jewish Gay Group”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 32, page 2:

Seymour: Audrey, quick! We've got to do an emergency [flower] arrangement.
[…]
Mr. Mushnik: The Shivas are our most important funereal account. A big, enormous family, they're dropping off like flies!

1986, Little Shop of Horrors (1986 film)

(Judaism) A weeklong period of formal mourning for a close relative.


Titus

Borrowed from Latin Titus, a Roman and Sabine praenomen meaning either "honorable" or "strong; of the giants".

The seventeenth book of the New Testament of the Bible, the epistle to Titus.


Pleiades

From Latin Pleiades, from Ancient Greek Πλειάδες (Pleiádes). In the astronomical sense, displaced Old English seofonstierre (literally “the seven stars”).

ncog

(Greek mythology) The "seven sisters", companions of Artemis and daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea-nymph Pleione.


Ahriman

Derived from Classical Persian اَهْریمَن (ahrēman) or Iranian Persian اَهْریمَن (ahriman), from Middle Persian 𐭠𐭧𐭫𐭬𐭭𐭩 (ʾḥlmny /ahreman/), from Avestan 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎 (aŋra.maⁱniiu), compound of 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀 (aŋra, “destruction, destructive”) and 𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎 (maⁱniiu, “spirit, mind, essence, emanation etc.”). Definable through the antithetical 𐬀𐬨𐬆𐬱𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎 (aməša.maⁱniiu, “bounteous spirit”). Doublet of Angra Mainyu.

der

𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎

[A]midst Ahriman and his hosts who had now established themselves in the Occident, and as heirs to the horns and tails of Pans and fauns, a crowd of native spirits moved; imps, giants, trolls, forest-spirits, elves and hobgoblins in and on the earth; nicks, river-sprites in the water, fiends in the air, and salamanders in the fire.

1879, Viktor Rydberg, “The Magic of the People and the Struggle of the Church against It”, in August Hjalmar Edgren, transl., The Magic of the Middle Ages: Translated from the Swedish, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC, page 201:

The hypostasis of chaos, destruction, evil in Zoroastrianism.

أَهْرِيمَان

the hypostasis of chaos, destruction, evil in Zoroastrianism


baruch Hashem

/bəˈɹʊx həˈʃɛm/

/bəˈɹuːx həˈʃɛm/

From Hebrew בָּרוּךְ הַשֵׁם (barúkh hashém, literally “blessed be the name [of the Lord]”), likely via Yiddish ברוך השם (borukh hashem).

unadapted borrowing

בָּרוּךְ הַשֵׁם


Lammastide

(Christianity) The religious festival of Lammas.


kippah

en-noun

kippah (plural kippahs or kippot or kippoth)

kippahs (plural)
kippot (plural)
kippoth (plural)

keeper (non-rhotic, /ˈkiːpə/ pronunciation)

kipper (non-rhotic, /ˈkɪpə/ pronunciation)

In response, Germany’s most popular daily newspaper asked readers to wear the cut-out kippah as a mark of solidarity with the Jewish community, and even posted a video on its website showing how to make it.

2019 May 27, Jack Guy, “German newspaper prints cut-out kippah, urging readers to wear it in solidarity with Jews”, in CNN:

Some Jewish Americans told CNN they are now hiding their kippahs, refusing to wear their Star of David necklaces and changing long-held traditions for religious holidays.

2023 November 21, Nicquel Terry Ellis, “The Israel-Hamas war is driving a surge in US hate crimes. These Jewish Americans say it’s changing the way they live”, in CNN:

(Judaism, clothing) The cloth skullcap or yarmulke traditionally worn by male Jews.


Song of Solomon

A calque of Latin Canticum Solomonis (“song of Solomon”), from its supposed authorship by the Israelite king Solomon.

der

(biblical) Synonym of Song of Songs, a canonical book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament.


Septuagesima

From Latin septuagesima dies (“70th day”).

(Christianity) A Sunday in the Christian calendar nine weeks before Easter Sunday.


Sexagesima

from Latin sexagesima dies, from the feminine of sexagesimus '60th' + dies 'day'

(Christianity) In the Christian calendar the Sunday two weeks before Lent, eight before Easter Sunday.


Succoth

A village near Arrochar in Argyll and Bute council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NN2905).


Quinquagesima

From Medieval Latin quinquagesima dies (“50th day”).

bor

(Christianity) A moveable feast in the Christian calendar on the Sunday 49 days before Easter Sunday (50 days counting inclusively).


dreidel

Borrowed from Yiddish דריידל (dreydl, “dreidel; spinning top”), probably a blend of דרייען (dreyen, “to spin; to turn; to twist”) + טרענדל (trendl, “(dated) dreidel; spinning top”). דרייען (dreyen) is derived from Middle High German dræn, from Old High German drāen (“to turn; to twist”), from Proto-West Germanic *þrāan, from Proto-Germanic *þrēaną (“to turn; to twist”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to turn; to rub; to drill, pierce”); and טרענדל (trendl) is derived from Middle High German trendel (“spinning top”), from Proto-Germanic *trandijaną (“to revolve, spin”).

der

I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay. / And when it's dry and ready, then dreidel I shall play. / Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay. / Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, then dreidel I shall play.

1927, “I Have a Little Dreidel”, Samuel S. Grossman (lyrics), Samuel Eliezer Goldfarb or Mikhl Gelbart (music):

The dreidel is a spinning toy, painstakingly fashioned out of plastic polymer by Jewish craftsmen in Vietnam. Used for tabletop gambling games during Hanukkah, the dreidel often ends up on the floor and sometimes in the dog's small intestine.

2005 December 23, Jonathan Safran Foer, “A Beginner's Guide to Hanukkah”, in The New York Times:

Students from the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah School danced in dreidel costumes at a menorah lighting in Detroit on Thursday.

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

A four-sided spinning top, inscribed with the four Hebrew letters נ (nun), ג (gimel), ה (hey), and ש (shin) (or פ (pey)) on each side, often used to play a traditional game during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.


Ceto

From Ancient Greek Κητώ (Kētṓ); see also κῆτος (kêtos, “sea monster”). Compare Cetus.

(Greek mythology) A primordial sea goddess, wife of Phorcys and mother of numerous monsters including Echidna and the gorgons.


gopher wood

From גפר, found in Genesis 6:14. Unrelated to the North American animal. Sometimes hypothesized to be ultimately cognate to English cypress, the wood itself being such or related to the tree.

Make thee an ark of gopher wood.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 6:14:

(biblical) The unidentified wood used in the construction of Noah's Ark.

gofero

the wood used in the construction of Noah's Ark - not yet identified

timber planks

terms used in other English versions of the Bible


prophesy

en-verb

prophesy (third-person singular simple present prophesies, present participle prophesying, simple past and past participle prophesied)

prophesies (present singular third-person)
prophesying (participle present)
prophesied (participle past)
prophesied (past)

From Middle English prophecien; partly from prophecie, and partly from Middle French prophecier, prophesier, from prophecie (“prophecy”).

1646, Jeremy Taylor, Of the Liberty of Prophesying, Section 4, in Treatises of 1. The liberty of prophesying, 2. Prayer ex tempore, 3. Episcopacie: together with a sermon, London: R. Royston, 1648, p. 73,
[…] if we consider that we have no certain wayes of determining places of difficulty and Question, infallibly and certainly […] we shall see a very great necessity in allowing a liberty in Prophesying without prescribing authoritatively to other mens consciences, and becomming Lords and Masters of their Faith.

(intransitive, Christianity) To speak out on the Bible as an expression of holy inspiration; to preach.


Sukkot

he-m

סוכות / סֻכּוֹת (sukót)

(Judaism) An ancient biblical / Israelite / Jewish festival lasting seven days, celebrating the autumn harvest and commemorating the passage through the wilderness: observed from the 15th day to the 21st day of the month of Tishrei (Tishri).


atheophobia

At many institutions, I have found atheophobia to be rampant among students; and religiophobia to be common among faculty.

2003 Spring, Robert J. Nash, “Inviting Atheists to the Table: A Modest Proposal for Higher Education”, in Religion & Education, volume 30, number 1, New York, →DOI, →ISSN:

Atheophobia leads to invisibility for many atheists, who find it is best to keep their nonbelief hidden for their own good.

2009 Spring, Kathleen M. Goodman with John A. Mueller, “Invisible, marginalized, and stigmatized: Understanding and addressing the needs of atheist students”, in New Directions for Student Services, number 125, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 55–63:

Atheophobia should be just as unacceptable as homophobia, anti-Semitism, or racism.

2011 January 25, Dan Barker, The Good Atheist: Living a Purpose-Filled Life Without God, Berkeley: Ulysses Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 42:

無神論恐怖症

むしんろんきょうふしょう


Shiva

From Sanskrit शिव (śivá, “the auspicious one”).

uder

(Hinduism) The god of destruction and transformation, and together with Brahma and Vishnu, one of the principal deities in Hinduism. Within Shaivism he is viewed as the Supreme deity, whereas in other branches of Hinduism such as the Smarta tradition he is worshipped as one of the six manifestations of the Divine.

A male given name from Sanskrit used in India.


deacon

Inherited from Old English diacon, from Ecclesiastical Latin diāconus, from Ancient Greek διᾱ́κονος (diā́konos, “servant, minister”).

der

(Christianity) A designated minister of charity in the early Church (see Acts 6:1-6).

diaken

(Christianity) By extension, a modern day member of a church who handles secular and/or administrative duties in a priest's stead, the specifics of which depends on denomination.

(Orthodoxy, Catholicism) A clergyman ranked directly below a priest, with duties of helping the priests and carrying out parish work.

شَمَّاس

(Protestantism) Free Churches: A lay leader of a congregation who assists the pastor.

(Protestantism) Anglicanism: An ordained clergyperson usually serving a year prior to being ordained presbyter, though in some cases they remain a permanent deacon.

(Protestantism) Methodism: A separate office from that of minister, neither leading to the other; instead there is a permanent deaconate.

(Mormonism) The lowest office in the Aaronic priesthood, generally held by 12 or 13 year old boys or recent converts.


deacon

en-verb

deacon (third-person singular simple present deacons, present participle deaconing, simple past and past participle deaconed)

deacons (present singular third-person)
deaconing (participle present)
deaconed (participle past)
deaconed (past)

(Christianity, music) For a choir leader to lead a hymn by speaking one or two lines at a time, which are then sung by the choir.