host

From Middle English host, oist, ost, from Old French hoiste, from Latin hostia (“sacrificial victim”). Doublet of hostie.

Do you pray to the Holy Ghost when you suck your host? / Do you read who's dead in the Irish Post?

1978, John Lydon (lyrics and music), “Religion II”, performed by Public Image Ltd.:

(Christianity) The consecrated bread of the Eucharist.

նշխար

consecrated bread — see also communion wafer


bath

barf (non-rhotic, trap–bath split, th-fronting)

Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer.

(historical units of measure) A former Hebrew unit of liquid volume (about 23 L or 6 gallons).


syzygy

en-noun

syzygy (countable and uncountable, plural syzygies)

From Late Latin sȳzygia (“conjunction”), from Ancient Greek συζυγία (suzugía, “union, yoke, pair”). This word was recognized as English in 1847 (in its astronomical meaning).

der

(Gnosticism) Complementary female–male pairings of the emanations known as Aeons.


de-Christianize

en-verb

de-Christianize (third-person singular simple present de-Christianizes, present participle de-Christianizing, simple past and past participle de-Christianized)

de-Christianizes (present singular third-person)
de-Christianizing (participle present)
de-Christianized (participle past)
de-Christianized (past)

(transitive) To make unchristian or non-Christian.


lavatory

From Middle English lavatorie, from Late Latin lavātōrium, from Latin lavāre (“to wash”) + -ium (forming places related to an activity). Doublet of lavatorium. As a place to pan gold, via Spanish lavadero. See also lave.

A vessel or fixture for washing, particularly:

(Christianity) A piscina: the basin used for washing communion vessels.

(Christianity) A lavabo: the basin used for washing one's hands before handling the Eucharist.

(Christianity, usually figurative) A baptismal font: the basin used for baptism, used figuratively for the washing away of sins.

(Christianity) The lavabo: the ritual washing of hands before handling the eucharist.

(Christianity) The ritual washing of hands after using the piscina to clean the communion vessels.


Christianize

Christianize (third-person singular simple present Christianizes, present participle Christianizing, simple past and past participle Christianized)

Christianizes (present singular third-person)
Christianizing (participle present)
Christianized (participle past)
Christianized (past)

(transitive) To cause to convert to Christianity.

キリスト教化する

キリストきょう か する


order

en-noun

order (countable and uncountable, plural orders)

→ Swahili: oda

From Middle English ordre, from Old French ordre, ordne, ordene (“order, rank”), from Latin ōrdinem, accusative of ōrdō (“row, rank, regular arrangement”, literally “row of threads in a loom”), from Proto-Italic *ordō (“to arrange”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂or-d-, from *h₂er-.
Related to Latin ōrdior (“begin”, literally “begin to weave”). In sense “request for purchase”, compare bespoke. Doublet of ordo.

cog

There have been many major and minor orders in the history of Christianity: the order of virgins, of deacons, priests, lectors, acolytes, porters, catechists, widows, etc.

to take orders or holy orders means to be ordained a deacon or priest

(Christianity) An ecclesiastical rank or position, usually for the sake of ministry, (especially, when plural) holy orders.


bishop

Tok Pisin: bisop

→ Hawaiian: pīhopa

→ Japanese: ビショップ

→ Kannada: ಬಿಷಪ್ (biṣap)

→ Korean: 비숍 (bisyop)

→ Maori: pīhopa

→ Thai: บิชอป (bì-chɔ́p)

From Middle English bischop, bishop, bisshop, biscop, from Old English bisċop (“bishop”), from Proto-West Germanic *biskop, from Vulgar Latin (e)biscopus, from classical Latin episcopus (“overseer, supervisor”), from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + σκοπός (skopós, “watcher”), used in Greek and Latin both generally and as a title of civil officers. Cognate with all European terms for the position in various Christian churches; compare bisp.

аҷҟәандар

church official, supervisor of priests and congregations

titular bishop

as over a diocese without a congregation

King James of blessed memory said, no Bishop, no King: it was not he, but others that added, No Ceremony, no Bishop.

1641, “Smectymnuus”, in Vindic. Answer Hvmble Remonstr., §16. 208:

St. Ignatius... In his 'Epiſtle to the Magneſians,' he exhorts them to do all things in the love of God, telling them, the Biſhop preſides in the place of God...

1715, William Hendley, A Defence of the Church of England, section 16:

These ministers were at first confined to the three orders of bishops, priests, and deacons.

1845, J. Lingard, Hist. & Antiq. Anglo-Saxon Church, 3rd edition, I. iv. 146:

It is a fact now generally recognized by theologians of all shades of opinion, that in the language of the New Testament the same officer in the Church is called indifferently ‘bishop’ ἐπίσκοπος and ‘elder’ or ‘presbyter’ πρεσβύτερος.

1868, Joseph Barber Lightfoot, St. Paul's epistle to the Philippians, section 93:

The Jubilee Mass had a special solemnity due to the presence of two exiled Chinese bishops—Thomas Cardinal Tien, Archbishop of Peking, and Bishop Joseph Yuen, of Chu-ma-tien, Honan—as well as the recently named bishop of Taichung, Formosa, Most Rev. William Kupfer, MM, who was in the United States to attend the Maryknoll General Chapter.

2013, Maureen Abbott, New Lights from Old Truths: Living the Signs of the Times, volume IV, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 375:

(Christianity) An overseer of congregations: either any such overseer, generally speaking, or (in Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, etc.) an official in the church hierarchy (actively or nominally) governing a diocese, supervising the church's priests, deacons, and property in its territory.

The Caliphaes of the Sarasins were kings and chiefe bishops in their religion.

1586, Pierre de la Primaudaye, translated by Thomas Bowes, The French Academie, I. 633:

The Byshop of Egypt is called the Souldan.

1615, William Bedwell, Arabian Trudgman in translating Mohammedis Imposturæ, sig. N4

[…] which explains the beheading of the Muslim Bishop of Lisbon, soon after the Reconquista.

2001, José Carlos Valle Pérez, Jorge Rodrigues, El arte románico en Galicia y Portugal, page 254:

The [holder of the office of] Imam [of Monrovia] is commonly referred to, both in conversation and in the press, as ‘the Muslim Bishop’.

2018, Merran Fraenkel, Tribe and Class in Monrovia, page 139:

(religion, nonstandard) A similar official or chief priest in another religion.


bishop

en-verb

bishop (third-person singular simple present bishops, present participle bishoping or bishopping, simple past and past participle bishoped or bishopped)

bishops (present singular third-person)
bishoping (participle present)
bishopping (participle present)
bishoped (participle past)
bishoped (past)
bishopped (participle past)
bishopped (past)

Se bisceop biþ gesett... to bisceopgenne cild.

Wanne the bisschop, bisschopeth the
Tokene of marke he set on the.

The Marquis of Buckingham and his wife were both bishopped, or confirmed by the Bishop of London.

1622, W. Yonge, Diary, published 1848, section 50:

Harding and Saunders Bishop it in England.

1655, T. Fuller, Church-hist. Brit., ix. 81:

Here too physical effects were vulgarly attributed to the ceremony… as evidenced by the case of the old Norfolk woman who claimed to have been ‘bishopped’ seven times, because she found it helped her rheumatism.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 35:

(Christianity) To act as a bishop, to perform the duties of a bishop, especially to confirm another's membership in the church.

Why sent they it by Felton to be bishoped at Paules?

1596, W. Warner, Albions Eng., x. liv. 243:

He... chose to bear The Name of Fool confirm'd, and Bishop'd by the Fair.

1700, Boccaccio, “Cymon & Iphigenia”, in John Dryden, transl., Fables, section 550:

(by extension, jocularly, obsolete) To confirm (in its other senses).

1549, H. Latimer, 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie, 5th Serm. sig. Pviv
Thys hathe bene often tymes... sene in preachers before they were byshoppyd or benificed.

There may be other... matters to occupy the thoughts of one about to be bishopped.

Italy would be well bishoped if her episcopacy... did not exceed fifty-nine.

(Christianity, rare) To provide with bishops.


asterisk

/ˈæstəˌɹɪsk/

The New York Times
The New York Times Company

The noun is derived from Middle English asterisk [and other forms], from Late Latin asteriscus (“asterisk; small star”), from Ancient Greek ἀστερῐ́σκος (asterískos, “asterisk; small star”), from ᾰ̓στήρ (astḗr, “celestial body (star, planet, and other lights in the sky such as meteors)”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs- (“to burn; to glow”)) + -ῐ́σκος (-ískos, diminutive suffix).
Sense 1.1.2 (“something which is of little importance or which is marginal”) refers to the use of an asterisk to denote a footnote or marginal note in a text; in other words, information that is not important enough to be incorporated into the main text. Sense 1.1.3 (“blemish in an otherwise outstanding achievement”) refers to the use of an asterisk in a sporting record to indicate that the record is qualified in some manner (for example, that the sportsperson was found to have taken performance-enhancing drugs at the time).
The verb is derived from the noun.

tähti

small star; something resembling or shaped like a star

Then he [the deacon] reverently covereth the holy Cup with the veil. Likewise he placeth the Asterisk upon the holy Diskos, and the veil over it, and saith the following prayer with the Priest, silently, […]

1866, John Chrysostom, “Liturgy of the Catechumens”, in [anonymous], transl., Service of the Divine and Sacred Liturgy of Our Holy Father John Chrysostom. […], London: Joseph Masters, […], →OCLC, pages 69–70:

The asterisk is one of the sacred objects used in the Byzantine rite. It is placed on the paten to protect the Eucharistic bread from contact with the special veil that covers it. The name derives from the shape of the object and symbolically recalls the Biblical words: "And the star came and stood above where the child was" […] [Matthew 2:9].

1962, Marvin C. Ross, “Copper”, in Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, volume 1 (Metalwork, Ceramics, Glass, Glyptics, Painting), Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Trustees for Harvard University, published 1970, →OCLC, paragraph 89, page 73:

The diskos, then, typifies the heavens, and for that reason, it is round, and holds the Master of heaven. What is called the ‘asterisk’ represents the stars, especially the one at the birth of Christ, just as the veils represent the firmament, the swaddling clothes, the shroud, and the burial cloths.

2013, Bryan D[ouglas] Spinks, quoting Symeon of Thessalonica (in translation), “The Eucharist and Anaphoras of the Byzantine Synthesis”, in Do This in Remembrance of Me: The Eucharist from the Early Church to the Present Day (SCM Studies in Worship and Liturgy), London: SCM Press, →ISBN, page 126:

(dated) A small star; also (by extension), something resembling or shaped like a star.

(Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism) An instrument with radiating arms resembling a star which is placed over the diskos (or paten) used during the Eucharist to prevent the veil covering the chalice and diskos from touching the host on the diskos.

tähti

instrument with radiating arms placed over the diskos used during the Eucharist


Ashkenazi

en-adj

Ashkenazi (comparative more Ashkenazi, superlative most Ashkenazi)

more Ashkenazi (comparative)
most Ashkenazi (superlative)

/ˌæʃkɪˈnɑːzi/

/ˌæʃkɪnəˈziː/

/ˌɑːʃkɪˈnɑːzi/

/ˌɑːʃkɪnəˈziː/

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

From Hebrew אַשְׁכְּנַזִּי ('ashk'nazí), from Biblical Hebrew אַשְׁכְּנַז (ʾaškənaz). Biblical Ashkenaz was the son of Gomer, grandson of Japheth, and great-grandson of Noah. Ashkenaz's descendants were identified with Germans by medieval Jewish tradition. Ashkenaz was the name used for the Rhine river, which was the starting point of central and eastern European settlement by Jews, who are thought to have arrived in the region from Italy, and then spread east as they fled violent oppression and followed more favorable ownership laws.

bor

אַשְׁכְּנַזִּי

Of or relating to Jews of Central European, particularly of German and Polish origin, and their traditions, customs, and rituals.

أَشْكِنَازِيّ

of, or relating to Jews from Central Europe


Ashkenazi

en-noun

Ashkenazi (plural Ashkenazim or Ashkenazis)

/ˌæʃkɪˈnɑːzi/

/ˌæʃkɪnəˈziː/

/ˌɑːʃkɪˈnɑːzi/

/ˌɑːʃkɪnəˈziː/

bor

אַשְׁכְּנַזִּי


Ashkenazi

/ˌæʃkɪˈnɑːzi/

/ˌæʃkɪnəˈziː/

/ˌɑːʃkɪˈnɑːzi/

/ˌɑːʃkɪnəˈziː/

אַשְׁכְּנַזִּי


abbé

Unadapted borrowing from French abbé (“abbot”), from Latin abbās (“abbot”). Doublet of abbot.

ubor

At graduation [Pierre Simon] Laplace faced an anguishing dilemma. His master’s degree permitted him to take either the priestly vows of celibacy or the title of abbé, signifying a low-ranking clergyman who could marry and inherit property. Abbés did not have good reputations; Voltaire called them “that indefinable being which is neither ecclesiastic nor secular . . . young men, who are known for their debauchery.” An engraving of the period, “What Does the Abbé Think of It?” shows the clergyman peering appreciatively down a lady’s bosom as she dresses. Still, the elder Laplace wanted his son to become a clergyman. If Laplace had been willing to become an abbé, his father might have helped him financially, and Laplace could have combined church and science. A number of abbés supported themselves in science, the most famous being Jean Antoine Nollet, who demonstrated spectacular physics experiments to the paying public.

2011, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 15:

A low-ranking member of the Roman Catholic clergy in France who is not a member of a religious order, is not a priest, and can marry and inherit property; an honorific title for such a clergymember.


mu

From Japanese 無 (mu, “nothing, neither yes nor no”).

der

Mu means "no thing." Like "Quality" it points outside the process of dualistic discrimination. Mu simply says, "No class; not one, not zero, not yes, not no." […] It's a great mistake, a kind of dishonesty, to sweep nature's mu answers under the carpet.

1974, Robert M[aynard] Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow & Company, →ISBN:

Achilles: Oh, but MU is Jōshū’s answer. By saying MU, Jōshū let the other monk know that only by not asking such questions can one know the answer to them.
Tortoise: Jōshū “unasked” the question. […]
Achilles: […] And the answer of “MU” here rejects the premises of the question, which are that one or the other must be chosen.

1979, Douglas Hofstadter, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid:

"Mu," said Kelly Dahl.
On one level mu means only yes, but on a deeper level of Zen it was often used by the master when the acolyte asked a stupid, unanswerable or wrongheaded question such as "Does a dog have the Buddha-nature?" The Master would answer only, "Mu," meaning—I say "yes" but mean "no," but the actual answer is: Unask the question.

1996, Dan Simmons, “Looking for Kelly Dahl”, in The Year's Best Science Fiction, page 424:

The Fifth Patriarch's utterance You say mu [Buddha-nature] because Buddha-nature is emptiness articulates clearly and distinctly the truth that emptiness is not "no". In uttering Buddha-nature-emptiness one does not say "half a pound." One does not say "eight ounces." One says "mu."

2002, Norman Waddell, Masao Abe, The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, page 72:

A monk once asked Master Joshu, 'Has a dog the Buddha Nature or not?' Joshu said, 'Mu!'

2010, Joan Price, Sacred Scriptures of the World Religions, page 70:


mu

That being the case, we should naturally choose to contemplate mu from morning to night, forgetting everything.

2012, Omori, Introduction To Zen Training, →ISBN, page 115:

Consequently, though mu is mindlike, the likeness to individual consciousness cannot be pushed very far.

2012, Dr Robert Wilkinson, Nishida and Western Philosophy, →ISBN:

The monk posed to Chaoi-chou a question: Does a dog have a buddha nature or not?" Chao-chou, without a moment's hesitation, answered, “Mu." (Translated as "No.")

2013, Sean Murphy, Natalie Goldberg, One Bird, One Stone: 108 Contemporary Zen Stories, →ISBN, page xvii:

If mu is mind, consciousness, it is nothing.

2013, Maura O'Halloran, Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind, →ISBN:

(Zen Buddhism) Nothingness; nonexistence; the illusory nature of reality.


OF

(Roman Catholicism) Initialism of Ordinary Form.


Christian name

(Christianity) A first name formally given to a child at a Christian baptism.


alb

From Middle English aube, awbe, albe, abbe, from Late Old English albe (but later reinforced by Old French aube, Medieval Latin alba), borrowed from Latin alba (as in tunica alba (“white tunic”), vestis alba (“white garment”)), feminine of albus (“white”).

‘The confidence of the very rich,’ thought Father Carter watching Binkie shaking out albs and cottas and calling rather loudly to the organist.

1978, Jane Gardam, God on the Rocks, Abacus, published 2014, page 131:

(Christianity, chiefly Anglicanism, Roman Catholicism) A long, white robe worn by priests and other ministers, underneath most of the other vestments.

alba

a long white robe worn by priests and other ministers


Nike

From Ancient Greek Νίκη (Níkē), from νίκη (níkē, “victory”).

(Greek mythology) The goddess of victory and triumph; Athena's companion.


vat

Inherited from Middle English vat, a dialectal variant of fat (“vat, vessel, cask”), from Old English fæt (“vat, vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *fat, from Proto-Germanic *fatą (“vessel”), from Proto-Indo-European *pod- (“vessel”).
Cognate with Scots fat, vat, vautt (“vat, cask, tub”), West Frisian fet, Dutch vat (“barrel, cask, vessel, vat”), German Fass (“barrel, keg, drum, cask, vat”), Danish fad (“saucer, dish”), Swedish fat (“dish, barrel, cask, vat”), Icelandic fat (“dish, saucer”). See fat.

cog

(Roman Catholicism) A vessel for holding holy water.


liturgical

/lɪˈtɝd͡ʒɪkəl/

Our almost liturgical repetition of the phrase "gay brothers and sisters" too often echoes with a hollow resonance.

1974 April 13, A. Nolder Gay, “The View from the Closet”, in Gay Community News, page 8:


Vulcan

From Latin Vulcānus, probably from Etruscan although very unclear, but unknown meaning and further origin (see more in Latin entry). Doublet of bolcane and volcano.

The goddess Venus was the wife of Vulcan.

(Roman mythology) The god of volcanoes and fire, especially the forge, also the patron of all craftsmen, especially blacksmiths. The Roman counterpart of Hephaestus.


angelology

en-noun

angelology (countable and uncountable, plural angelologies)

/eɪnd͡ʒəˈlɒləd͡ʒi/

The study of angels. Angels have been grouped into nine categories or “choirs,” from lowest to highest: angel, virtue, archangel, power, principality, dominion, throne, cherub, and seraph.


accursed

en-adj

accursed (comparative more accursed, superlative most accursed)

more accursed (comparative)
most accursed (superlative)

* First attested in the early 13th century.
* From Middle English acursed, from acursen (“to curse”), from Old English ācursian, from ā + cursen, from curs (“curse”).

Accurſt be he that firſt inuented war

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iv:

[…]—if any one, be he who he may, attempt to alter the faith once for all delivered, let him be accursed.

1885, Charles Abel Heurtley, transl., The Commonitory of Vincent of Lérins, Chapter 8:

1912, Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Constance Garnett, The Brothers Karamazov, Book III, Chapter 7,
For at the very moment I become accursed, at that same highest moment, I become exactly like a heathen […]

We did not come here to waste words in treating with Sauron, faithless and accursed; still less with one of his slaves. Begone!

1955, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, The Return of the King/Book V, Chapter 10

(theology) Doomed to destruction or misery; cursed; anathematized.


communion

en-noun

communion (countable and uncountable, plural communions)

From Middle English communion, from Old French comunion, from Ecclesiastical Latin commūniō (“communion”), from Latin commūnis.

der

It is with the day of her first communion that this narrative of mine begins.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

(Roman Catholicism) A form of ecclesiastical unity between the Roman Church and another, so that the latter is considered part of the former.


Eucharist

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

From Middle English eukarist, from Old French, from Ecclesiastical Latin eucharistia, from Ancient Greek εὐχαριστία (eukharistía, “gratitude, giving of thanks”). Displaced native Old English hūsl.

(Christianity) The Christian sacrament of Holy Communion.


kosher

en-adj

kosher (comparative more kosher, superlative most kosher)

more kosher (comparative)
most kosher (superlative)

From Yiddish כּשר (kosher), from Hebrew כָּשֵׁר (kashér).

Only in New York can you find a good, kosher hamburger!

David's mother kept a kosher kitchen, with separate sets of dishes for meat and for dairy.

In order for a suit to be kosher, it cannot contain both wool and linen together.

(Judaism) Fit for use or consumption, in accordance with Jewish law (especially relating to food).


seraph

en-noun

seraph (plural seraphs or seraphim or (nonstandard) seraphims)

seraphs (plural)
seraphim (plural)
seraphims (nonstandard plural)

Back-formation of singular from plural seraphim, from Latin seraphim, from Biblical Hebrew שְׂרָפִים (sərāp̄īm), plural form of שָׂרָף (sārāp̄). The plural "seraphims" occurs in the King James Bible (Isaiah chapter 6).
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the singular "seraph" may have originated with John Milton, who used it in Book I of Paradise Lost (1667).

(biblical) A burning serpent, often winged, with human hands and sometimes feet; one of God's entourage. On Earth, they strike with burning poison; in Heaven, with burning coal. A description can be found at the beginning of Isaiah chapter 6.


liturgy

liturgy (countable and uncountable, plural liturgies)

From Middle French liturgie, from Latin liturgia, from Ancient Greek λειτουργία (leitourgía), from λειτ- (leit-), from λαός (laós, “people”) + -ουργός (-ourgós), from ἔργον (érgon, “work”) (the public work of the people done on behalf of the people).

(historical) In Ancient Greece, a form of personal service to the state.


messiah

From Middle English Messyas, Messy, Messie, from Latin Messīās, from Hellenistic Ancient Greek Μεσσίας (Messías), from Aramaic ܡܫܺܝܚܳܐ (məšīḥā), from Biblical Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (māšîaḥ, “anointed”). Doublet of Masih and Moshiach.

der

Aramaic ܡܫܺܝܚܳܐ (məšīḥā)

(Abrahamism) The one who is ordained by God to lead the people of Israel, believed by Christians and Muslims to be Jesus Christ.

The spice exists on only one planet in the entire universe- a desolate, dry planet with vast deserts. Hidden away within the rocks of these deserts are a people known as the Fremen, who have long held a prophecy, that a man would come, a messiah, who would lead them to true freedom. The planet is Arrakis, also known as Dune.

1984, 1:50 from the start, in Dune (Science Fiction), spoken by Princess Irulan, →OCLC:

(religion, loosely) A similar religious figure or awaited divine ruler, such as the Islamic Mahdi.


evangelist

From Old French evangeliste, equivalent to evangel + -ist, from ecclesiastical Latin evangelista, from ecclesiastical Ancient Greek εὐαγγελιστής (euangelistḗs, “bringer of good news”), from εὐαγγελίζεσθαι (euangelízesthai, “to evangelize”), from εὐάγγελος (euángelos, “bringing good news”), from εὖ (eû, “well”) + ἀγγέλλειν (angéllein, “to announce”).

uder

εὐαγγελιστής

(Christianity) An itinerant or special preacher, especially a revivalist, who conducts services in different cities or locations, now often televised.

مُبَشِّر

(biblical) A writer of a gospel, especially the four New Testament Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), usually capitalized (Evangelist).


circuit

From Middle English circuit, from Old French circuit, from Latin circuitus (“a going round”), from circuire (“go round”), from circum (“around”) + ire. As a Chinese administrative division, a calque of Chinese 道 (dào) or 路 (lù).

piiri

Methodist Church: district in which an itinerant preacher labors

dao

Imperial Chinese administrative divisions

(Methodism) The basic grouping of local Methodist churches.

(Scientology) A thought that unconsciously goes round and round in a person's mind and controls that person.


consecrate

en-verb

consecrate (third-person singular simple present consecrates, present participle consecrating, simple past and past participle consecrated)

consecrates (present singular third-person)
consecrating (participle present)
consecrated (participle past)
consecrated (past)

Borrowed from Latin cōnsecrāre, cōnsecrātus.

(transitive, Roman Catholicism, specifically) To ordain as a bishop.


consecrate

en-adj

consecrate (comparative more consecrate, superlative most consecrate)

more consecrate (comparative)
most consecrate (superlative)

They were assembled in that consecrate place.

1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC:

Consecrated; devoted; dedicated; sacred.


sacrament

From Middle English sacrament, from Old French sacrement, from Ecclesiastical Latin sacrāmentum (“sacrament”), from Latin sacrō (“hallow, consecrate”), from sacer (“sacred, holy”), originally sum deposited by parties to a suit.

der

Coordinate term: ordinance

Priest: I'm sorry, it's Duncan Dirk Dick. I've just done it. / Father: Well, undo it. / Priest: Undo it? / Father: Yes. / Priest: This is a holy sacrament of the Church, not a bleeding hotel reservation. You can't just undo it.

1989 February 10, Stephen Fry et al., “Christening”, in A Bit of Fry and Laurie, season 1, episode 5:

(Christianity) A sacred act and the attendant ceremony, considered (theology) an outward sign of divine grace.


archangel

From Middle English archangel, from Old French archangele, from Latin archangelus, from Ancient Greek ἀρχάγγελος (arkhángelos) from Ancient Greek prefix ἀρχι- (arkhi-) + ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”). By surface analysis, arch- + angel.

A powerful angel that leads many other angels, but is still loyal to a deity, and often seen as belonging to a particular archangelical rank or order within a greater hierarchy of angels. (Judeo-Christian examples: Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel).


ministry

From Middle English mynisterie, borrowed from Old French menistere, in turn borrowed itself from Latin ministerium; equivalent to minister + -y.

(Christianity) The clergy of nonapostolic Protestant churches.

the present ministry of the Holy Spirit

(Christianity) Work of a spiritual or charitable nature.


blessed

en-adj

blessed (comparative more blessed, superlative most blessed)

more blessed (comparative)
most blessed (superlative)

condemned

antonym(s) of “having divine aid, or protection, or other blessing”

(Roman Catholicism) A title indicating the beatification of a person, thus allowing public veneration of those who have lived in sanctity or died as martyrs.

блажен

In Catholicism, a title indicating the beatification of a person


Americanism

en-noun

Americanism (countable and uncountable, plural Americanisms)

Moreover, the enthusiasm with which Hecker’s ideas had been received among Catholic liberals in France served to increase Leo XIII’s suspicion that Americanism was yet another attempt, not so very different from the Gallicanisms of the past, to assert the independence of a national church from Rome.

1999, Michael W. Cuneo, The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism, →ISBN, page 8:

(Roman Catholicism) A putative current of Catholicism in the United States identified and condemned as heretical by Rome in the late 19th century, chiefly characterized by support for secularism and American institutions above Catholic doctrine.


creed

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-creed.wav

Constantine the Great
First Council of Nicaea

From Middle English crede, from Old English crēda, crēdo, from Latin crēdō (“I believe”), from Proto-Italic *krezdō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱred dʰeh₁- (“to place one's heart, i.e., to trust, believe”), a compound phrase of the oblique case form of *ḱḗr (“heart”). Creed is cognate with Old Irish cretim (“to believe”), Sanskrit श्रद्दधाति (śráddadhāti, “to have faith or faithfulness, to have belief or confidence, believe”).

cog

A creed is a manifesto of religious or spiritual beliefs

[N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, […]

1604, Jeremy Corderoy, A Short Dialogve, wherein is Proved, that No Man can be Saved without Good VVorkes, 2nd edition, Oxford: Printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Crowne, by Simon Waterson, →OCLC, page 40:

The Apostles' Creed was not the only creed to come into existence in the period of the early church. However, it is the oldest and simplest creed of the church. All Christian traditions recognize its authority and its importance as a standard of doctrine. To study the Apostles' Creed is to investigate a central element of our common Christian heritage.

2015, Alister [Edgar] McGrath, “Getting the Most out of Apostles’ Creed”, in Apostles’ Creed (LifeGuide Bible Studies), Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, →ISBN, page 6:

(specifically, religion) A reading or statement of belief that summarizes the faith it represents; a confession of faith for public use, especially one which is brief and comprehensive.


missionary

en-noun

missionary (countable and uncountable, plural missionaries)

→ Maori: Mihinare

→ English: Mihanere

/ˈmɪʃ.əˌnɛɹ.ɪ/

A missionary was just trying to convert me to his religion.

(religion) A person who travels attempting to spread a religion or creed (Particularly used in context of Christianity).


Michael

en-proper noun

Michael (countable and uncountable, plural Michaels)

Armenian: Մայքլ (Maykʻl)

Greek: Μάικλ (Máikl)

From Middle English Michael, from Old French Michel, Old English Michahel, and directly from their source Latin Michaēl, from Ancient Greek Μῐχᾱήλ (Mikhāḗl), from Biblical Hebrew מִיכָאֵל (mîḵāʾēl, literally “who is like God?”). Doublet of Mikhail.

der

Yea, it seems to me not fit for Christian humility to call a man Gabriel or Michael, giving the names of angels to the sons of mortality.

1629, Thomas Adams, Meditations upon Creed: The Works of Thomas Adams, James Nichol (1862), volume 3, page 212:

He works in the steelworks, the boyfriend, on the factory floor. I'd say that was quite unusual, he's called Michael. Insists on that, he does, not being called Mike or Micky or Mick, pretends not to hear you, then, "No, my name's actually Michael."

2008, Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 498:

He looked more like a Michael; big guy, dark-haired, good posture, his back ramrod straight.

2015 August 25, Sue Grafton, X, Penguin, →ISBN, page 277:

(countable) A male given name from Hebrew.

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince that standeth for the children of thy people.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 12:1:

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 12:7:

(Judaism, Christianity, Islam) An archangel associated with defending the faithful in the tribulation.


mission

en-noun

mission (countable and uncountable, plural missions)

Learned borrowing from Latin missiō, missiōnem (“a sending, sending away, dispatching, discharging, release, remission, cessation”).

lbor

(countable, Catholicism) An infrequent gathering of religious believers in a parish, usually part of a larger regional event with a central theme.


apothecary

desc

அப்போதிக்கரி

→ Tamil: அப்போதிக்கரி (appōtikkari)

/əˈpɒθəkəɹi/

/əˈpɑθəˌkɛəɹi/

From Old French apotecaire (whence French apothicaire), from Medieval Latin apothecarius (“storekeeper”), from Latin apotheca (“(originally) repository, storehouse, warehouse; (later) shop, store”), from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “a repository, storehouse”), from ἀπό (apó, “away”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put”), literally “a place where things are put away”. Doublet of boutique and bodega.

af

[T]he poticaries and barbarus wryters call it [the iris] Irios in the genetiue caſe.

1562, Wylliam Turner [i.e., William Turner], “Of the Herbe Called in Latin Irio”, in The Second Parte of Guilliam Turners Herball⸝ […], Cologne: […] Arnold Birckman, →OCLC, folio 23, recto:

O true Appothecarie! / Thy drugs are quicke. Thus with a kiſſe I die.

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 75, column 2:

The girls, though their illness was long and dangerous, recovered under Mrs. Palmer's care, who watched over them as if they had been her own; and from that time an affection, as valuable as it was pleasant, sprang up between them. When Lady Anne returned, she called, and talked about every thing but the apothecary's bill.

1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 62:

It amused me to see the bustle and the life in the apothecary's shop across the street.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 2:

(archaic in US, dated in UK) Synonym of pharmacist: a person who sells medicine, especially (historical) one who made and sold their own medicines in the medieval or early modern eras.


Lutheran

en-adj

Lutheran (comparative more Lutheran, superlative most Lutheran)

more Lutheran (comparative)
most Lutheran (superlative)

From the surname of German theologian and ecclesiastical reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546) + -an. Probably immediately from Renaissance Latin Lutheranus, or German Lutheraner.
Luther is from an Old High German given name, from liut (“people”) + heri (“army”) (from Proto-Germanic *harjaz (“army; commander, warrior”), from Proto-Indo-European *kóryos (“war; troops”), from *ker- (“army”)).

der

A Lutheran understanding of the Lord’s Supper is not the same as that of other denominations.

[I]f when Luther firſt began to teach new doctrine, the catholiks at that time had not vouchſafed to giue him the hering, but had auoided his prechings & preuy couenticles, ther had not bin now in the worlde, either Lutheran, Swinglian, Calueniſt, Puritan, Anabaptiſt, Trinetarie, Family of loue, Adamite, or the lyke: whereof now there are ſo many thouſands abroad, al ſpringing of that firſt ſecte, and troubling at this day the whole worlde, […]

1581, D. Fulke [i.e., William Fulke], A Briefe Confutation, of a Popish Discourse: Lately Set Forth, and Presumptuously Dedicated to the Queenes Most Excellent Maiestie: By Iohn Howlet [pseudonym; Robert Persons], or Some Other Birde of the Night, vnder that Name. Contayning Certaine Reasons, why Papistes Refuse to Come to Church, which Reasons are here Inserted and Set Downe at Large, with Their Generall Answeres, London: Printed [by Thomas Dawson] for George Byshop, →OCLC, folio 12, recto and verso:

On the borders of that river [the Volga] 104 colonies have ſettled, conſiſting of Germans, who emigrated to thoſe parts in the years of dearth and famine. Theſe colonies have already three Calviniſt, and four Lutheran ministers.

1798 August, “Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Mr. Gunther, Minister at Wodonoy Bujerack, in the Russian Government of Saratow, on the Wolga, in Asia, to the Rev. Dr. Burckhardt, London”, in The Evangelical Magazine, volume VI, London: Printed by and for T. Chapman, No. 151 Fleet-Street, →OCLC, page 309:

[A] number of Lutheran priests were involved in the activities of the EHS [Estonian Heritage Society]. The EELC [Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church] identified itself again as 'the people's church' and stressed the connection between the Lutheran Church and Estonian national identity, although the alleged connection with radical nationalism is an exaggeration.

2015, Ringo Ringvee, “Religion and Nation-building in Estonia: Some Perspectives on Secular Society”, in Greg Simons, David Westerlund, editors, Religion, Politics and Nation-building in Post-Communist Countries (Post-Soviet Politics), Farnham, Surrey, Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing, →ISBN, page 151:

(Christianity) Of or pertaining to the theology of Martin Luther (1483–1546) or his followers, or the Lutheran church.

лютэранскі

pertaining to the theology of Martin Luther or his followers, or the Lutheran church


Lutheran

The split between the Lutherans and the Roman Catholics began with the Edict of Worms in 1521.

[I]f you had bene but ſo conuerſante in Caluine [John Calvin] as your profeſsion requireth, you could not ſo far haue bene ouerſeene in this eaſie diſtinction knowen to Catholike, Lutheran and Zuinglian, although when Caluine wrote thus, perhaps he was more then halfe a Lutheran, and not ſo far gone in Zuinglianiſme as after.

1583, William Rainolds [i.e., William Reynolds], “VVherein is Refelled^([sic – meaning Repelled?]) M. VV. Ansvvere to Certaine Places of S[aint] Chrysostome Touching the Real Presence and Sacrifice”, in A Refvtation of Svndry Reprehensions, Cavils, and False Sleightes, by which M. [William] Whitaker Laboureth to Deface the Late English Translation and Catholike Annotations of the New Testament, and the Booke of Discouery of Heretical Corruptions, Paris: [s.n.], →OCLC, pages 222–223:

[…] George of Mecklenburg, a younger brother of the reigning Duke, an active and ambitious Prince, collected a conſiderable number of thoſe ſoldiers of fortune who had accompanied Henry of Brunſwick in all his wild enterprizes; and though a zealous Lutheran himſelf, invaded the territories of the Magdeburgers, hoping that, by the merit of this ſervice, he might procure ſome part of their domains to be allotted to him as an eſtabliſhment.

1772, William Robertson, “The Siege of Magdeburg [marginal note]”, in The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V, new edition, volume IV, London: Printed for W[illiam] Strahan; T[homas] Cadell, in the Strand; Edinburgh: J. Balfour, →OCLC, book X, page 40:

At this memorable Diet of Speyer (1529), a compact Roman Catholic majority faced a weak Lutheran minority. The Emperor, through his commissioners, declared at the outset that he abolished, "by his imperial and absolute authority (Machtvollkommenheit)," the clause in the ordinance of 1526 on which the Lutherans had relied when they founded their territorial Churches; it had been the cause, he said, "of much ill counsel and misundestanding." […] It was this ordinance which called forth the celebrated Protest, from which comes the name Protestant. The Protest was read in the Diet on the day (April 19th, 1529) when all concessions to the Lutherans had been refused.

1906, Thomas M[artin] Lindsay, “From the Diet of Speyer, 1526, to the Religious Peace of Augsburg, 1555”, in A History of the Reformation (International Theological Library), volume I (The Reformation in Germany from Its Beginning to the Religious Peace of Augsburg), New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, →OCLC, pages 345–346:

(Christianity) A member of any of the Christian churches which identify with the theology of Martin Luther.

luterà

member of any Christian church identifying with the theology of Martin Luther


grove

From Middle English grove, grave, from Old English grāf, grāfa (“grove; copse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graib, *graibō (“branch, group of branches, thicket”), from Proto-Germanic *graibaz, *graibô (“branch, fork”).
Related to Old English grǣf, grǣfe (“brushwood; thicket; copse”), Old English grǣfa (“thicket”), dialectal Norwegian greive (“ram with splayed horns”), dialectal Norwegian greivlar (“ramifications of an antler”), dialectal Norwegian grivla (“to branch, branch out”), Old Norse grein (“twig, branch, limb”). More at greave.


merry Christmas

→ Hawaiian: mele Kalikimaka

→ Japanese: メリークリスマス (merī Kurisumasu)

→ Korean: 메리 크리스마스 (meri Keuriseumaseu)

desc

မာရေဝ်ခရေတ်သမာတ်

→ Mon: မာရေဝ်ခရေတ်သမာတ်

→ Mon: မာရေဝ်ခရေတ်သမာတ်

เมอร์รี่คริสต์มาส

→ Thai: เมอร์รี่คริสต์มาส (məə-rîi krís-mâas)

Merry Christmas, Jack. / Same to you. And a happy New Year.

Have a merry Christmas, Jack. / Merry Christmas to you and your family.

I am aſhamed to talk of theſe Trifles, but to make you ſenſible by the Way, that the Spaniards are not ſo ungrateful as you repreſent them, I ſhall tell you, that the Money ariſing out of the Sale that was made of the Wine and Chocolate belonging to the Cardinal at his Departure, was more than ſufficient to defray the Expences of his Journey, and had he continued fifteen Days longer at Madrid, he would have received by the Poſt a Bill of 1000 Piſtoles, with which a Friend wiſhed him a merry Chriſtmas, which Sum was paid by the King’s Orders to the Government of Madrid to be employed for the Benefit of the Publick.

1722, The Hiſtorical Regiſter, volume VII, № XXVIII, “An Anſwer from the Marqueſs of ———— to the Letter of a Prelate, concerning Cardinal Alberoni”, pages 291–292

(Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Canada, US) Used to express good wishes on or before Christmas Day.

შობას გილოცავთ

addressing 2nd-person pl. or 2nd-person sg. politely

ბედნიერ შობას გისურვებ (bednier šobas gisurveb, literally “wish you a happy Christmas”)


secular

en-adj

secular (comparative more secular, superlative most secular)

more secular (comparative)
most secular (superlative)

monastic

antonym(s) of “not bound by monastic vows”

From Middle English seculer, from Old French seculer, from Latin saeculāris (“of the age”), from saeculum.

secular clergy in Catholicism

(Christianity) Not bound by the vows of a monastic order.

světský

not bound by the vows of a monastic order


blessing

From Middle English blessinge, blessynge, from Old English blētsung, blēdsung (“a blessing”), equivalent to bless + -ing.


cherub

en-noun

cherub (plural cherubs or cherubim or cherubims)

cherubs (plural)
cherubim (plural)
cherubims (plural)

James Tissot
Museum Catharijneconvent
Pieter de Grebber

From Middle English cherub, cherube, cherubin, cherubine, cherubym, cherubyn, cherybin, gerubin, jerubin (“angel of the second highest order; depiction of such an angel”), from Old English cerubin, cerubim, ceruphin, cherubin, from Latin cherūbīn, cherūbīm, from Ancient Greek χερουβίν (kheroubín), χερουβείν (kheroubeín), χερουβίμ (kheroubím), from Hebrew כְּרוּבִים (k'ruvím);.
The English and Middle English word cherub(e) is derived from Latin cherub (“cherub”) (the singular form of cherūbīm, cherūbīn), from Ancient Greek χερούβ (kheroúb), ultimately from Hebrew כְּרוּב (kerúv), from a root meaning "to bless". Because it was not always clear from Bible passages whether a single being or group of beings was being referred to, cherubin was used both as a singular word (plural cherubins) and plural word up to the 18th century. However, in Bible translations particularly from the 16th century onward cherub began to be favoured as the singular form, and from the 17th century cherubim as the plural form (influenced by Hebrew כְּרוּבִים (k'ruvím)).
The English word is cognate with French chérubin, Italian cherubino, Old Spanish cherubin (modern Spanish querubín), Galician querubín, Portuguese querubim.

refn

From the collection of the Jewish Museum in New York City, New York, USA.

From the collection of the Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht, Netherlands.

(biblical) A winged creature attending God and guarding his throne described as a being with four faces (man, lion, ox, and eagle), human hands, calf hooves, four wings, and many eyes. A description can be found in Ezekiel chapter 1 and Ezekiel chapter 10; similar to a lamassu (winged bull with a human torso) in the pre-exilic texts of the Hebrew Bible, more humanoid in later texts.

𐕣𐕙𐕒𐔱𐔰

(biblical) winged creature attending on God


epiphany

From Middle English epiphanie, from Old French epyphanie, from Late Latin epiphania, from Ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia, “manifestation, striking appearance”), from ἐπιφαίνω (epiphaínō, “I appear, display”), from ἐπί (epí, “upon”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “I shine, appear”). English Epiphany (of Christ) since the 14th century, generic use since the 17th century.

der

(Christianity) Alternative letter-case form of Epiphany.


fraction

Etymology tree
Middle English fraccioun
English fraction
From Middle English fraccioun (“a breaking”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French fraccion, from Medieval Latin fractio (“a fragment, portion”), from earlier Latin fractio (“a breaking, a breaking into pieces”), from fractus, past participle of frangere (“to break”) (whence English frangible), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (English break). Doublet of frazione.

der

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 100a. Fraction

[…] The bread, when it is consecrated and made sacramental, is the body of our Lord; and the fraction and distribution of it is the communication of that body, which died for us upon the cross.

a. 1668 (date written), Jeremy Taylor, “The History of the Life and Death of the Holy Jesus: Discourse XIX.”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. […], volume III, London: Ogle, Duncan, and Co. […]; and Richard Priestley, […], published 1822, →OCLC, page 290:

(Christianity) In a eucharistic service, the breaking of the host.

murtaminen

eucharistic service: breaking of the host


universalism

en-noun

universalism (countable and uncountable, plural universalisms)

/ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsəlˌɪzəm/

(theology) The belief that all souls can attain salvation.

ουνιβερσαλισμός

the belief that all souls can attain salvation

Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism#English

Alternative form of Unitarian Universalism


Christmas tree

At the very moment he cried out, David realised that what he had run into was only the Christmas tree. Disgusted with himself at such cowardice, he spat a needle from his mouth, stepped back from the tree and listened. There were no sounds of any movement upstairs: no shouts, no sleepy grumbles, only a gentle tinkle from the decorations as the tree had recovered from the collision.

1994, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Hippopotamus:

In 1958, it was reported that for "the fourth year in succession, staff of four South London stations have combined to decorate the booking hall at Peckham Rye station". They installed a nativity scene, models of Father Christmas, and a sleigh driven by huskies, and Christmas trees were placed around the station.

2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 29:

A conifer used during the Christmas holiday season, typically decorated with lights and ornaments and often a star or angel at its tip.

kersboom

tree used during the Christmas holiday season

Christmas's tree

in sense of the seasonal decorative tree

(aviation, historical) A type of alert area constructed by the Strategic Air Command of the United States Air Force during the Cold War.


Christmas Eve

From Middle English Cristemasse eve, from an assumed Old English *Cristes mæsseǣfen.

This Collect is to be repeated every day with the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas-Eve.

1681, Church of England, The book of common prayer:

With trembling fingers did we weave
The holly round the Chrismas hearth;
A rainy cloud possess’d the earth,
And sadly fell our Christmas-eve.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXX, page 48:

Why was the cock supposed to crow all Christmas Eve ("The bird of dawning singeth all night long")?

1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 27:

The family celebrated Christmas Eves together in the military stockade, sleeping on mattresses on the floor of Ninoy’s cell.

1986, The Philippine Journal of Education, volume 65, page 38, column 1:

Brad led Matthew into the family room where they celebrated Christmas Eves and told Matthew, “Papa’s gone. He’s in heaven, and we’ll never see him again.”

2015, Rhoda G. Penny, chapter 7, in An Extra Ordinary Life, Mustang, Okla.: Tate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC, →ISBN, page 62:

And I was mourning the future, too. That Wally wouldn’t spend Christmas Eves with both of his parents, dressed up like a Santa or a Christmas pudding, overindulged in the morning.

2017, Gillian McAllister, Everything but the Truth, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 294:

In 1965, all Coventry's banks closed at noon on Christmas Eve for the first time, to "enable bank staff to get away at a reasonable time". […] On Christmas Day itself there will be no trains, for recent experience has shown that few wish to travel then, even on services which had been drastically reduced: earlier closing of shops and offices on Christmas Eve is the chief reason for this change in the pattern of travel.

2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 30:


genetic

/d͡ʒəˈnɛtɪk/

/d͡ʒɪˈnɛtɪk/

Coined from genesis, similarly to antithesis, antithetic. Ultimately from Ancient Greek γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “I come into being”). By surface analysis, gene + -tic or genesis + -etic.

der

Guy Stroumsa (2011) proposes the use of the alternative term Abrahamic religions, emphasizing the genetic relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and their branches, for which the idea of monotheism is not always central.

2016 September 15, Koji Yamashiro, edited by Yochai Ataria, David Gurevitz, Haviva Pedaya, and Yuval Neria, Trauma and Monotheism: Sugmund Freud’s Moses and Monotheism and the Possibility of Writing a Traumatic History of Religion, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, →DOI, →ISBN, page 251:

(theology) Based on a shared membership in a religious family.


ordinary

/ˈɔɹdɪnɛ(ə)ɹi/

From Anglo-Norman ordenarie, ordenaire et al., Middle French ordinaire, and their source, Medieval Latin ordinarius, noun use of Latin ōrdinārius (“regular, orderly”), from ōrdō (“order”).

(Christianity) A part of the Christian liturgy that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed.

(Catholicism) Alternative letter-case form of Ordinary (“those parts of the Mass which are consistent from day to day”)

Ordinary

A book setting out ordinary or regular conduct.

(Christianity, especially Catholicism) A rule, or book of rules, prescribing the order of a liturgy, especially of Mass.


halal

halaal

in general, according to Muslim customs, permissible to have or do

[…] broadening the demand for halal across all product categories, not just in their consumption of meat products […]

2014, Professor Nilüfer Göle, Islam and Public Controversy in Europe, →ISBN, page 176:

(Islam) allowable, according to Muslim religious customs, to have or do.


Christianity

en-proper noun

Christianity (usually uncountable, plural Christianities)

From Middle English Cristiente, Cristente, borrowed from Old French crestienté, from Medieval Latin stem of Chrīstiānitās, from Latin christianus, Christianus, from Ancient Greek Χριστιανός (Khristianós), from Χριστός (Khristós, “Christ, anointed one”) + Latin -anus (“suffix for of, related to”) + one more suffix borrowed from Latin "ity" makes the final Christian + -ity. The term was respelled in the early modern English period to more closely reflect its Latin etymon.

By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 4, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

As a result, Christianity developed as a separate religion from Judaism.

2002, The Atlas of Great Jewish Communities: A Voyage Through History, page 27:

An Abrahamic religion originating from the community of the followers of Jesus Christ.


poppet

A doll (such as a voodoo doll) made in witchcraft to represent a person, used in casting spells on that person.


publish

en-verb

publish (third-person singular simple present publishes, present participle publishing, simple past and past participle published)

publishes (present singular third-person)
publishing (participle present)
published (participle past)
published (past)
publish (infinitive)

private

To make (information such as an event) available to components that wish to be notified

From Middle English publicen (by analogy with banish, finish), from Old French publier, from Latin publicare (“to make public, show or tell to the people, make known, declare, also (and earlier) confiscate for public use”), from publicus (“pertaining to the people, public”); see public.

der

(Christianity) To preach (as a Jehovah's Witness).


Christ

From Middle English Crist, from Old English Crist, from Latin Christus, from Ancient Greek Χρῑστός (Khrīstós), proper noun use of χρῑστός (khrīstós, “[the] anointed [one]”), a semantic loan of Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (māšīaḥ, “anointed”) or the Aramaic equivalent (whence ultimately also English messiah, also via Latin, Greek). Compare grime for the Proto-Indo-European root, *gʰr-ey- (“to rub, smear; to anoint”); further related to ghee.

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 24:24:

(Christianity) The anointed one, the Messiah predicted by the Old Testament.

"But I have seen the Christ. Oh, He was glorious, glorious! Now, good-bye - good-bye!" She backed towards the cabinet and sank into the shadows.

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:

(Christianity) A title given to Jesus of Nazareth, seen as the fulfiller of the messianic prophecy.


province

Tok Pisin: provins

From Middle English provynce, from Anglo-Norman province, Old French province, from Latin prōvincia, seemingly corresponding to prō- and vinciō. Replaced Old English boldġetæl.

In 1309, neither the Archbishop of Canterbury nor his suffragans would attend in Parliament while the Archbishop of York had the cross borne erect before him in the province of Canterbury.

(Christianity) An area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, typically comprising a number of adjacent dioceses.

prowincja

(Roman Catholicism) An area under the jurisdiction of a provincial within a monastic order.


Jerusalem

en-proper noun

Jerusalem (countable and uncountable, plural Jerusalems)

/d͡ʒəˈɹuːsələm/

/d͡ʒəˈɹuːzələm/

From Late Latin Ierusalem, Hierusalem, from Latin Hierosolyma, from Ancient Greek Ἰερουσαλήμ (Ierousalḗm), from Biblical Hebrew יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yərūšālayim), from a Western Semitic form attested in Ancient Egyptian as Aw-w-SA-A-m-m-N25 (ꜣwšꜣmm), a compound of Semitic *uru (“house, town”) and *salim, which meant either "peace" or "Shalim", Canaanite god of twilight.

der

יְרוּשָׁלַיִם

Meronyms: East Jerusalem (EJ, East al-Quds); West Jerusalem (WJ)

Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea#English

Hierosolyma

chiefly in reference to the ancient Roman or Crusader era city

A city in the Holy Land between the Mediterranean Sea and Dead Sea, holy in Judaism, Christianity and Islam; the legal capital city of Israel.

꾸드스

North Korea and South Korean Islamic contexts

A number of places elsewhere, usually named after the city in the Holy Land:

A census-designated place in Conway County, Arkansas.

census-designated place
census-designated place

An unincorporated community in Harford County, Maryland.

An unincorporated community in Lima Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan.

Washtenaw County
Washtenaw County#English

Former name of Courtland, Southampton County, Virginia.


Daniel

From Middle English Daniel, Daniell, from Ancient Greek Δᾱνῑήλ (Dānīḗl), from Hebrew דָּנִיֵּאל (daniyél, literally “God is my judge”), name borne from the prophet whose story is told in the Book of Daniel.

A book in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the denne of Lions: now the king spake and saide vnto Daniel; Thy God, whom thou seruest continually, he will deliuer thee.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 6:16:

(biblical) The prophet whose story is told in the Book of Daniel.


dharma

en-noun

dharma (countable and uncountable, plural dharmas)

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit धर्म (dhárma, “that which upholds or supports”). The definitions pertaining to Buddhism are influenced by dhamma, a loan word from Pali. Doublet of dhamma and firm.

lbor

(Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) The natural order of the universe; natural law, cosmic order.

(Hinduism) One's obligation in respect to one's position in society, or the universe; one's duty, societally or cosmically.

(Buddhism) The teachings of the Buddha as one's personal path to enlightenment.

(Buddhism) The teachings of the Buddha as a practice to be promulgated and taught.

Unsupported titles/`lsqb`w:Ethics of Jainism


tapas

From Sanskrit तप् (tap, “heat; to be hot”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tep- (“to be warm or hot”). Related to tepid.

der

(Hinduism, Jainism) (The practice of) asceticism and self-discipline.

তপস

(the practice of) asceticism and self-discipline


interpreter

/ɪnˈtɝpɹɪɾɚ/

/ɪnˈtɝpɹɪtɚ/

/ɪnˈtɜːpɹɪtə/

From Middle English interpreter, interpretour, etc., from Old French interpreteur, interpreteeur, etc., from Late Latin interpretātōr, from classical Latin interpretātus (“explained, translated”) + -or (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from interpretārī (“to explain, to translate”), from interpres (“go-between, translator”) + -ārī (“to be ~ed”), q.v. In reference to divine emissaries, a calque of Mercury's Latin epithet interpres divum (“go-between of the gods”). In reference to the rhetorical device, a calque of Latin interpretatio. Equivalent to interpret + -er.
Displaced native Old English wealhstod.

A person or thing that interprets the meaning of something for another, particularly:

(obsolete) Synonym of translator, one who translates various forms of texts.

linguister

colonial contexts, particularly West & Central Africa


translator

[ˌtʰɹænzˈleɪtʰɚ]

[ˌtʰɹænzˈleɪɾɚ]

Directly from Latin trānslātor and French translator, and also from Middle English translatour, from Old French translatour, translateur, etc., from Latin trānslātor, from trānslātus (“carried across”) + -or (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from trānsferō (“carry across”), from trans (“across”) + ferō (“bear, carry”), q.v. Equivalent to translate + -or.

vertaler

someone or something that translates meaning from one language to another

... the translator of the life and miracles of the saints, like the translator of the relics, need not have been "literate"; nor did he have to be a clerk.

2019, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Images of Sainthood in Medieval Europe, page 100:

(chiefly obsolete) Synonym of carrier, a person who transports something, now particularly (Roman Catholicism, rare) holy relics.


way

From Middle English way, wey, from Old English weġ, from Proto-West Germanic *weg, from Proto-Germanic *wegaz, from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. Doublet of voe and possibly via.

don't let the door hit you on the way out

have one's head screwed on the right way

his driveway doesn't go all the way to the road

one's elevator doesn't go all the way to the top

the real treasure is the friends we made along the way

there's more than one way to cook an egg

there's more than one way to crack an egg

there's more than one way to peel an orange

the way to a man's heart is through his stomach

you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

To walk the Way of the Runes, you must experience the runes as they manifest both in the part of Midgard that lies outside yourself and the worlds within. (Diana Paxson)

(Germanic paganism) A tradition within the modern pagan faith of Heathenry, dedication to a specific deity or craft, Way of wyrd, Way of runes, Way of Thor etc.

usko

paganism: dedication to a specific deity or craft


Urim and Thummim

From Biblical Hebrew אוּרִים (ʾûrîm) and תומים / תֻּמִּים (tummîm). Traditionally the Hebrew has been understood, and sometimes translated, as “Light and Truth” owing to the similarity to אוֹרִים (ʾôrîm, “lights”) and תָּמִים (tāmîm, “complete, morally upright, in accordance with truth”), an interpretation that has contributed to the terms’ association with clairvoyance. There is no consensus on the validity of this reading in the original biblical context, particularly for Thummim.

he-m

תומים / תֻּמִּים (tummîm)

(Mormonism) Instruments by which divine revelation can be understood; often specifically the tools that Joseph Smith, Jr. said he had found on the hill Cumorah and used to interpret the golden plates.


paradise

en-noun

paradise (countable and uncountable, plural paradises)

→ Fijian: parataisi

→ Maori: pararaiia

→ Niuean: parataiso

→ Tokelauan: palataiho

From Middle English paradis, paradise, paradys, from Late Old English paradīs, borrowed from Old French paradis, from Latin paradīsus, from Ancient Greek παράδεισος (parádeisos), ultimately from Proto-Iranian *paridayjah. Doublet of parvis. Displaced Old English neorxnawang.

Living in paradise comes with a price.

And Jesus said unto him [the malefactor], Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 23:43:

This employment I considered as the only satisfaction I could offer to the memory of your unfortunate mother, and I flatter myself that if she could look down, it would give her angelic mind pleasure even in paradise, to behold me instilling into the minds of her children, sentiments congenial with her own.

1791, Charlotte Lennox, “Hermione”, in London, volume 1, William Lane, page 123:

The imagination of the Hindoo paints his Swergas as "profuse of bliss," and all the joys of sense are collected in the Paradise of the Mussulman.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 71:

He hears his daughter's voice, / Singing in the village choir, / And it makes his heart rejoice. / It sounds to him like her mother's voice, / Singing in Paradise!

1839, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “[Miscellaneous.] The Village Blacksmith.”, in Ballads and Other Poems, 2nd edition, Cambridge, Mass.: […] John Owen, published 1842, →OCLC, stanzas 5–6, page 101:

I believe the soul in Paradise must enjoy something nearer to a perpetual adulthood than to any other state we know.

2004, Marilynne Robinson, Gilead, London: Virago, published 2005, page 189:

Kruban is a tidally-locked Venusian hothouse, its surface perpetually obscured by clouds of sulfur and carbon dioxides. The first group of krogan brought into orbit by the salarian uplift teams requested a trip to Kruban. The salarians at first thought the krogan were confused about the nature of Kruban's environment; the planet is named for a krogan mythological paradise in which honorable warriors feast on the internal organs of their enemies. In fact, krogan astronomers had correctly deduced the nature of Kruban in the years before the global holocaust.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Kruban:

(chiefly religion) The place where sanctified souls are believed to live after death.

Not that Adam that kept the Paradise but that Adam that keeps the prison:

c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

Up into Heav’n from Paradise in hast
Th’ Angelic Guards ascended,

1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 17-18:

Government like dress is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise.

1776, Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Philadelphia, page 1:

If all was good and fair we met,
This earth had been the Paradise
It never look’d to human eyes
Since Adam left his garden yet.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXIV, page 41:

I feel deadly faint, bowed, and humped, as though I were Adam, staggering beneath the piled centuries since Paradise.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 132, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

(Abrahamic religions) A garden where Adam and Eve first lived after being created.


caliph

From Middle English calife, caliphe, from Old French caliphe, from Medieval Latin calipha, from Arabic خَلِيفَة (ḵalīfa, “caliph”) and خَلِيف (ḵalīf, “successor”).

The Abbasid caliphs patronized art and science beside religious developments ushering in the Islamic Golden Age when their capital Baghdad began to flourish as a center of knowledge, culture and trade.

It carries us to the East, and the stately halls of the caliphs rise on the mind's eye; and we think over the thousand and one stories which made our childhood so happy, and stored up a world of unconscious poetry for our future years:...

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Coronation”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 148-149:

The holder of a monarchical title based on a claim to be a successor of Muhammad.


temple

From Middle English temple, from Old English templ, tempel, borrowed from Latin templum (“shrine, temple, area for auspices”). Compare Old High German tempal (“temple”), also a borrowing from the Latin.

tempel

place of worship — see also place of worship

How often do you go to temple?

(Judaism) Synonym of synagogue, especially a non-Orthodox synagogue.

(Mormonism) As opposed to an LDS meetinghouse, a church closed to non-Mormons and necessary for particular rituals.


Dominican

From Dominica + -an & Dominic + -an. Compare Latin dominicānus.

A person from the Commonwealth of Dominica or of its descent.


economy

en-noun

economy (countable and uncountable, plural economies)

From Middle English yconomye, yconomy, borrowed via Old French [Term?] or Medieval Latin from Latin oeconomia, from Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomía, “management of a household, administration”), from οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) + νέμω (némō, “distribute, allocate”). By surface analysis, eco- + -nomy. The first recorded sense of the word economy, found in a work possibly composed in 1440, is “the management of economic affairs”, in this case, of a monastery.

اِقْتِصاد

effective management of the resources of a community or system

(theology) The method of divine government of the world. (See Economy (religion).)


varna

From Sanskrit वर्ण (várṇa, “colour, tint, dye, pigment, appearance, aspect”), from verbal root वृणोति (vṛṇoti, “to choose, select”).

uder

(Hinduism) any of the four original castes in Hinduism, or the system of such castes


silence

en-noun

silence (usually uncountable, plural silences)

From Middle English silence, from Old French silence, from Latin silentium (“silence”), from silēns (“quiet, silent”, present participle of silēre) + -ium. Displaced native Old English swīġe and sālnes.

af

present participle of <i class="Latn mention" lang="la">silēre</i>

During silence a message came to me that there was that of God in every person.

Refraining from speaking, for purposes of prayer or meditation; especially, a form of worship practiced by the Society of Friends (Quakers) during meetings.


Qur'an

Borrowed from Arabic الْقُرْآن (al-qurʔān), definite form of قُرْآن (qurʔān, “act of reciting”), verbal noun of قَرَأَ (qaraʔa, “to recite; to read (aloud)”). (The obsolete alternative spellings with "al-", like the Alcoran, redundantly retained the Arabic definite article.) Compare Classical Syriac ܩܪܝܢܐ (qeryānā, “reading; scripture”).

cog

Thus it is not without wonder, how those learned Arabicks so tamely delivered up their belief unto the absurdities of the Alcoran.

1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, I.5:

‘A poor forlorn and ignorant stranger, unacquainted with the very Alcoran of the savage tribe whom you are come to reside among—Never to have heard of Markham, the most celebrated author on farriery!’

He reads largely religious books, chiefly the Gita and Upanishads. He has read the Koran and he is now re-reading the Bible.

1923 December 16, “Gandhi spends his time”, in Time:

In the summer of 2002, responding to the 9/11 atrocity, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill made a selection of verses from the Qur'an a mandatory text for new students.

2011 July 1, Malise Ruthven, The Guardian:

(Islam) The Islamic holy book, considered by Muslims to be the word of God as revealed to Muhammad.


Byzantine

en-adj

Byzantine (comparative more Byzantine, superlative most Byzantine)

more Byzantine (comparative)
most Byzantine (superlative)

From Late Latin byzantinus, itself from Byzantium. The metaphorical senses evoke the reputation for palace intrigue of the Byzantium imperial court.

This was the crowning incident of our visit, and I wondered with what Byzantine ritual the Anointed One fresh from the exercise of his priestly functions would be received among his women.

1920 October, Edith Wharton, In Morocco, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 180:

(Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism) Of or relating to the Byzantine Rite or any of the many Eastern Orthodox churches and Greek Catholic churches that use this rite for their liturgical celebrations.


monastery

From Middle English monasterie, from Old French monastere, from Medieval Latin monastērium (“monastery”), from Ancient Greek μοναστήριον (monastḗrion, “hermitage, monastery”), from μοναστήριος (monastḗrios, “alone, made alone”) + -ιον (-ion, “-ium”, suffix forming place names), from μονάζω (monázō, “to be alone”), from μόνος (mónos, “alone”) + -άζω (-ázō, verb-forming suffix). Doublet of minster.

der

A residence for monks or others who have taken religious vows.


Christmas

en-proper noun

Christmas (countable and uncountable, plural Christmases or Christmasses)

Christmases (plural)
Christmasses (plural)

→ Afrikaans: Krismis

desctree

→ Gilbertese: Kiritimati
→ English: Kiritimati

→ Golin: geresma

→ Hawaiian: Kalikimaka

desc

→ Hindi: क्रिसमस (krismas), क्रिस्मस (krismas)

→ Hopi: Kyesmis

→ Japanese: クリスマス (Kurisumasu)

→ Korean: 크리스마스 (Keuriseumaseu)

→ Maori: Kirihimete

→ Mon: ခရေတ်သမာတ်

→ Mon: ခရေတ်သမာတ်

→ Burmese: ခရစ္စမတ် (hka.racca.mat)

→ Spanish: Crismes

→ Swahili: Krismasi

The proper noun is derived from Middle English Cristemasse, Criste-mas (“Christmas Day; season of Christmas; Christmas festivities”) [and other forms], from Old English Cristes mæsse (“Christmas”, literally “Christ’s mass”), from Crist (“Christ”) + -es (possessive marker) + mæsse (“a mass (celebration of the Eucharist)”). The English word is analysable as Christ + -mas (suffix denoting a holiday or sacred day).
The noun, adjective, and verb are derived from the proper noun.
Adjective sense 1 (“red and green in colour”) refers to these colours being traditionally associated with Christmas.

suffix

Do you celebrate Christmas?

This Christmas we’ll open presents, then go to grandma’s for dinner.

Be gladde, lordes, bothe more and lasse, / For this hath ordeyned our stewarde / To chere you all this christmasse / The bores heed with mustarde.

[[15th century] (date written), “A Caroll Bringyng in the Bores Heed”, in [Christmasse Carolles], London: […] Wynkyn de Worde, published 1521, →OCLC; republished in Joseph Ames, Typographical Antiquities: Being a Historical Account of Printing in England: […], London: […] W[illiam] Faden, and sold by J. Robinson, […], 1749, →OCLC, page 96, column 2:

In this Winter was great death in London, wherefore the Terme was adiorned, and the king for to eſchue the plague, kept his Chriſtmaſſe at Eltham with a ſmall number, for no man might come thether, but ſuch as were appoynted by name: this Chriſtmas in the kings houſe, was called the ſtill Chriſtmaſſe.

1569, Richard Grafton, “Henry the Eyght”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume II, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye, →OCLC, pages 1140–1141:

Kinde Gentlemen, and honeſt Companions, I preſent you here with a merrie conceited Comedie, called the Shoomakers Holyday, acted by my Lorde Admiralls Players this preſent Chriſtmaſſe, before the Queenes moſt excellent Maieſtie.

1599 (first performance; published 1600), Thomas Dekker, “The Shomakers Holiday. Or The Gentle Craft. […]. To All Good Fellowes, Professors of the Gentle Craft; of what Degree Soeuer.”, in The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker […], volume I, London: John Pearson […], published 1873, →OCLC, page 3:

Hereupon a Peace vvas concluded, vvhich vvas publiſhed a little before Chriſtmaſſe, in the Fourteenth yeare of the Kings Raigne, to continue for both the Kings liues, and the ouer-liuer of them, and a yeare after.

1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC, page 191:

Chriſtmaſſe commeth but once a yeere.

1623, M. N. [pseudonym; William Camden], “Certaine Prouerbes, Poemes or Poesies, Epigrammes, Rhythmes, and Epitaphs of the English Nation in Former Times, and Some of This Present Age”, in Remaines, Concerning Britaine: […], 3rd edition, London: […] Nicholas Okes, for Simon Waterson, […], →OCLC, page 267:

[T]heſe Ships […] meet vvith Privateers, vvho reſort hither in the aforeſaid months [May to August], purpoſely to keep a Chriſtmas as they call it; being ſure to meet vvith Liquor enough to be merry vvith, and are very liberal to thoſe that treat them.

1697, William Dampier, chapter III, in A New Voyage Round the World. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, page 56:

[…] I was always grateful for the sum of my week's profit, and at Christmas for that of the whole year.

1712 August 17 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “WEDNESDAY, August 6, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 450; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 220:

The lord chancellor holds his fittings in this hall, and in former days, like the Temple, it had its revels and great Chriſtmaſſes. […] The account of the great feaſt in the hall of the Inner Temple, by the ſerjeants, in 1555, is extremely worth conſulting: and alſo of the hoſpitable Chriſtmaſſes of old times.

1798 July, “Account of Lincoln’s Inn: With a Perspective View of the Hall and Chapel”, in The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure; […], volume CIII, London: […] W[illiam] Bent, […], →OCLC, page 42, column 2:

[A] great deal of revelry was permitted, and even encouraged, by the squire, throughout the twelve days of Christmas, provided every thing was done comformably to ancient usage. […] [T]he Yule clog, and Christmas candle, were regularly burnt, and the mistletoe, with its white berries, hung up, to the imminent peril of all the pretty housemaids.

1820 January 1, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Christmas Eve”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number V, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 379:

“Lawk!” says our old granddam, who has taken the liberty of looking over our manuscript while we were gone to mix a glass of water and something. “Lawk!” says she, “how can you write such stuff? Christmas, indeed! you’ve no Christmas now. Do you call this Christmas? It’s more like a vapour bath. Such weather! Lawk, how times are changed! the Christmasses I remember! the good, old-fashioned Christmasses, when there was snow on the ground six feet deep, and poor people were starved to death by dozens, and you couldn’t go out without having your fingers frost-bitten, and coals were at six shillings a hundred, and canals froze up so that you couldn’t get your goods, and the roads all impassable, and daren’t ask a few friends to merrymake for fear of losing three or four of ’em going home in snow-drifts, and—oh, those were Christmasses! we shall never see such times again!”

1840 January, Sylvanus Swanquill [pseudonym; John Hewitt], “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”, in The New Sporting Magazine, volume XVIII, number 105, London: Walter Spiers, […], →OCLC, page 53:

[I]t was always said of him [Ebenezer Scrooge], that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed this knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!

1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Five. The End of It.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 166:

The time draws near the birth of Christ: / The moon is hid; the night is still; / The Christmas bells from hill to hill / Answer each other in the mist.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXVIII, page 45:

Reader have your Christmasses hitherto been marked with happiness? Thank God for it. […] Then mamma died—and later in your college days, dear Herbert, when you were both as tall as men, but as fond of play as ever—and we used to spend such happy Christmasses, till our dear father died, / “That was our first sad winter, the one which followed his death, for you remember how sadly we all missed him, and we were still in mourning—but the next one was a happy day, for Lawry was so full of spirits—and that was our last happy Christmas. Herbert darling, Lawrence has left the last impression of happiness on my memory—he, who has since broken up our domestic peace, and for a long time spoilt our Christmasses—Heaven bless him![…]”

1859, [Florence] Marryatt, chapter XXIX, in Temper. A Novel., New York, N.Y.: Dick & Fitzgerald, […], →OCLC, page 205:

Love came down at Christmas, / Love all lovely, Love Divine, / Love was born at Christmas, / Star and Angels gave the sign.

1885, Christina G[eorgina] Rossetti, “December 29 [Love Came Down at Christmas]”, in Time Flies: A Reading Diary […], London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge […], →OCLC, page 251:

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas / With every Christmas card I write / May your days be merry and bright / And may all your Christmases be white

1942 July 30, Irving Berlin (lyrics and music), “White Christmas”, performed by Bing Crosby, New York, N.Y.: Decca Records, →OCLC:

Have yourself a merry little Christmas / Let your heart be light / Next year all our troubles will be out of sight

1943 (date written), “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, in Ralph Blane (lyrics), Hugh Martin (music), Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas: From the M.G.M. Picture Meet Me in St. Louis, performed by Judy Garland, New York, N.Y.: Leo Feist, published 1944, →OCLC:

The last time I saw her was a week before Christmas, 1980. We took down a fat branch of berried Megginch holly, which we stuck in a pot for a Christmas tree, hung with silver balls and glitters. Aunt Victoria looked at it, smiled and unexpectedly said, “Christmas.” Surely she was sitting there dreaming of Christmasses long past: Christmas in the South China Sea, the Christmas lights of Hong Kong, hot Christmasses so long ago in the Anchises under the Southern Cross stars, or even longer ago of Christmasses at Megginch, singing carols round the lighted Christmas tree in the hall, while Queen Victoria’s goddaughter in her starched white dress and bronze shoes had worn the sparkling pendant given her by the great Queen.

1994, Cherry Drummond, The Remarkable Life of Victoria Drummond, Marine Engineer, London: The Institute of Marine Engineers, →ISBN, page 354:

I don't want a lot for Christmas / There is just one thing I need / I don't care about the presents / Underneath the Christmas tree / I just want you for my own / More than you could ever know / Make my wish come true / All I want for Christmas is you

1994 October 29, Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff (lyrics and music), “All I Want for Christmas Is You”, in Merry Christmas, performed by Mariah Carey, New York, N.Y.: Columbia Records, →OCLC:

This is not the first time a city in China has clamped down on Christmas merriment. Last December, Hengyang, a city in Hunan province, issued a stern notice asking Communist Party officials and their relatives to “resist the rampant Western festival.” The China Communist Youth League in Anhui wrote on social media last year that “Christmas is China’s day of shame” and represents a latter-day invasion by the West.

2018 December 19, Tiffany May, “Chinese City Bans Christmas Displays Amid Religious Crackdown”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2018-12-19, Asia Pacific:

Western Christianity
Western Christianity

(originally Christianity) A festival or holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ and incorporating various Christian, pre-Christian, pagan, and secular customs, which in Western Christianity is celebrated on December 25 (Christmas Day) in most places.

Kersfees

festival or holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ which in Western Christianity is celebrated on December 25 in most places

ܥܹܐܕܵܐ ܕܡܵܘܠܵܕܵܐ

ˁēdā dmāwlādā

The last three Christmases have been good for retailers.

Christmas shoppers spent less this December than last year, but our store will probably see just as many returned items during the twelve days of Christmas.

There'll be parties for hosting / Marshmallows for toasting / And caroling out in the snow / There'll be scary ghost stories / And tales of the glories / Of Christmases long, long ago

1963 October 14, Eddie [i.e., Edward] Pola, George Wyle (lyrics and music), “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, performed by Andy Williams, New York, N.Y.: Columbia Records, →OCLC:

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year / Christmas, it's the season of good cheer / […] / Christmas is love, Christmas is love / The love of God, oh that's the marvelous thing

1981, John W[illard] Peterson (lyrics and music), “Christmas is Love”, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Singspiration, →OCLC:

Christmas season
Christmas season#English

(often marketing) Short for Christmas season (“the period of time before and after Christmas Day, during which people prepare for and celebrate Christmas”); Christmastime.

Christmas season

if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas

like turkeys voting for an early Christmas

think all one's Christmases have come at once

A number of places in the United States:

An uninhabited mining community in Gila County, Arizona.

An unincorporated community in Au Train Township, Alger County, Michigan.

An unincorporated community in Bolivar County, Mississippi


Christmas

Short for Jiminy Christmas, probably a variant of Jiminy Cricket or Jiminy Crickets, a euphemism for Jesus Christ.

"Christmas! I didn't know it," said Harvey, turning round. "I'll give you a dollar for it when I—get my wages. Say, I'll give you two dollars."

1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous:

"I've been tottering on the edge … Christmas!" His eyes brightened with a sudden thought. "How stupid I've been!" he cried at once.

1930, Ellery Queen [pseudonym; Frederic Dannay, Manfred Bennington Lee], “‘The Time has Come …’”, in The French Powder Mystery: A Problem in Deduction, New York, N.Y.: Frederick A[bbott] Stokes Company, →OCLC, page 269:

She said, "All right with you, Bertie?" / "Oh Christmas! he said. "I suppose so."

1959, Ngaio Marsh, “On the Scent”, in False Scent, New York, N.Y.: Jove Books, published November 1981, →ISBN, section 3, page 158:

(euphemistic) An expression of annoyance or surprise: Christ, Jesus Christ, Jiminy Cricket, Jiminy Crickets.


monastic

en-adj

monastic (comparative more monastic, superlative most monastic)

more monastic (comparative)
most monastic (superlative)

From Middle French monastique, from Late Latin monasticus.

new monastic people

“Fear not that, Edward,” exclaimed Halbert, who never gave his brother his monastic name of Ambrosius; “none obey the command of real duty so well as those who are free from the observance of slavish bondage.”

1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XV, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 344:


fatwa

Ruhollah Khomeini
Salman Rushdie
The Satanic Verses

The noun is borrowed from Arabic فَتْوَى (fatwā, “formal legal opinion”), the verbal noun of أَفْتَى (ʔaftā, “to deliver a formal opinion”) (whence مُفْتٍ (muftin, “mufti”), the active participle of the same verb: see mufti).
The forms fetwa, fetwah are derived from Italian fetfà (obsolete), and directly from its etymon Ottoman Turkish فتوی (fetva) (modern Turkish fetva), from Arabic فَتْوَى (fatwā): see above.
Modern uses of noun sense 1.2 (“decree that a person should be put to death”) and the corresponding verb sense are probably influenced by the issuance of a fatwa on 14 February 1989 by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1900 or 1902 – 1989), the Supreme Leader of Iran, calling for the British-American author Salman Rushdie (born 1947) and his publishers to be put to death for alleged blasphemy in his novel The Satanic Verses (1988).
The plural form fatawa is borrowed from Arabic فَتَاوَى (fatāwā).
The verb is derived from the noun.

fatwa

formal ruling issued by an Islamic judicial authority

The website contains fatwas on points of Islamic law that arise in court cases.

A formal legal decree, opinion, or ruling issued by a mufti or other Islamic judicial authority.

(by extension, loosely, erroneous) A decree issued by a mufti or other Islamic judicial authority that a person should be put to death, usually as punishment for committing apostasy or blasphemy.

(religion, by extension) A formal decree or ruling, or statement, issued by an authority of a religion other than Islam.

fatwa

loosely: similar ruling issued by an authority of a religion other than Islam


Macedonian

Macedonia naming dispute
Macedonian
Macedonius I of Constantinople

From Middle English Macedonyan, from Latin Macedoniānus, from Macedonius + -ānus, after the Greek bishop Macedonius I of Constantinople.

/mæsəˈdəʊnɪən/

(historical, Christianity) Pertaining to the Macedonian heresy or to Macedonian heretics.


Macedonian

/mæsəˈdəʊnɪən/

I do therfoꝛe ſo diligently admoniſh you of this thing, becauſe it is daungerous leſt among ſo many errours, and in ſo great varietie and confuſion of ſectes, there might ſtep vp ſome Arrians, Eunomians, Macedonians, and ſuch other heretikes, that might doe harme to the Churches with their ſubteltie.

1575, Martin Luther, translated by “certaine godly learned men”, A Commentarie of M. Doctor Martin Luther vpon the Epistle of S. Paul to the Galathians, […], London: […] Thomas Vautroullier […], folio 16, recto:

With these data at our disposal we are in a position to sketch the teaching of the Macedonians to a great extent from their own writings,[…]. 3. Doctrine of the Macedonians in the same period.—The leading doctrine of the Macedonians is found in the thesis characterized by their opponents as ‘Pneumatomachian,’ viz. that the Holy Spirit is not to be designated Θεός (frag. 32, lines 1–8, Dial. c. Maced. i. 1 [p. 1292 A]; frag. 29, Did. de Trin. iii. xxxvi. [p. 965 B]).

1915, Friedrich Loofs, “Macedonianism”, in edited by James Hastings, John A[lexander] Selbie, and Louis H[erbert] Gray, Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, volume VIII (Life and Death–Mulla), Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, […]; New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, […], page 225, column 2:

At least as Auxentius reports him in the covering letter which precedes Ulfila’s confession, he is as vehement in his opposition to what he sees as heretical alternatives to his own form of belief as most other participants in the controversies of the time. Heretics are not Christians but antichrists. Homoousians, Homoiousians, and Macedonians are all included in this blanket condemnation.

1996, Maurice Wiles, “[The End of Arianism] Gothic Christianity”, in Archetypal Heresy: Arianism through the Centuries, Oxford, Oxon: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, page 43:

(historical, Christianity) A member of an anti–Nicene Creed sect founded by the Greek bishop Macedonius I of Constantinople, which flourished in the regions adjacent to the Hellespont during the latter half of the fourth, and the beginning of the fifth centuries.


element

From Middle English element, from Old French element, from Latin elementum (“a first principle, element, rudiment”) (see further etymology there).

element

simplest or essential part or principle of anything

(Christianity, usually in the plural) The bread and wine taken at Holy Communion.


font

From Old English font, an early borrowing from Latin fōns, fontis (“fountain”).

Blessed be God, that, at the font, / My sponsors bound me to the call / Of Christ in England to confront / The world, the flesh, the fiend and all.

1791, Christopher Smart, “Moderation”, in Hymns for the Amusement of Children:

In the Apostolic Age, as in Jewish times (John, iii, 23), baptism was administered without special fonts, at the seaside or in streams or pools of water (Acts, viii, 38); […]

1913, John Bertram Peterson, “Baptismal Font”, in Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2:

(Christianity) A receptacle in a church for holy water, especially one used in baptism.


tau

Hospital Brothers of Saint Anthony
Trần Thanh Vân

From Middle English tau, taue, from Latin tau, from Ancient Greek ταῦ (taû) and Hebrew תָּו (tav).
Sense 6 (“mathematical constant equal to 2π”) was used by Joseph M. Lindenberg in 1991, and popularized by the American educator and entrepreneur Michael Hartl in a 2010 paper which explains that τ resembles π; and that τ is the Greek equivalent of t, the first letter of turn, and 2π corresponds to one turn of a circle with a radius of one unit.
Sense 8.1 (“short for tau lepton or tau particle”) was coined by the American physicist Martin Lewis Perl (1927–2014) after the first letter of Ancient Greek τρίτον (tríton, “third”), since the tau lepton or tauon was the third charged lepton discovered.

sequence box

Ancient Greek Alphabet

<big>Τ τ </big>
Ancient Greek: ταῦ

croix en tau

Saint Anthony’s cross — see also Saint Anthony's cross

Saint Anthony's cross
Saint Anthony's cross

A Τ-shaped object or sign; a Saint Anthony's cross, sometimes regarded as a sacred symbol.

(Christianity) A crosier with a Τ-shaped head.


atheism

en-noun

atheism (usually uncountable, plural atheisms)

16th century Middle French athéisme, from athée (“atheist”), a loan from Ancient Greek ἄθεος (átheos, “godless”, from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + θεός (theós, “deity, god”)).
First English attestation dates to 1587 (OED).

ateïsme

lack of belief that any deities exist (with or without a belief that no deities exist)

(obsolete) Absence of belief in the One True God, defined by Moore as personal, immaterial and trinitarian (thus Islam, Judaism and unitarian Christianity), as opposed to monotheism.


priestess

From priest + -ess. Compare Middle English preesteresse (“priestess”).

cog

The “extenuating circumstances” set forth by the Rev. Mr. Higgins certainly bring home not only the nature of Bishop Hall's problem but its cause; however, the problems of parish life under a deaconess are insignificant in comparison with the very grave issues raised by the ordination of a priestess.

1944 November 19, “Letters”, in The Living Church, volume 109, number 21, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Morehouse-Gorham Co., page 2:

1976 July 10, Aubrey Wice, “Anglican, Greek Orthodox Doctrines at Odds: Women Priests Create Rift Between Churches”, in The Globe and Mail, Toronto, →ISSN, page 36:

He has cleverly figured out that the deluded pro-priestess faction of the church already has its necessary two-thirds majority and that the time to act is now.

1986 June 25, John Fraser, “Dust-up Over Women Will Enliven Anglican Synod”, in The Globe and Mail, Toronto, →ISSN, page A7:

THE Church of England is considering taking legal action against a recalcitrant opponent of women priests in Hull who refuses to take down a church sign which says: "This Anglican parish has no part in the apostasy of priestesses."

1996 July 15, Madeleine Bunting, “Priest Defends 'Sexist' Sign”, in The Guardian, London, →ISSN, page 6:

2003 December, Larry A. Carstens, “The Non Serviam of the Episcopal Church: Unsex Me!”, in New Oxford Review, volume 70, number 11, →ISSN, pages 33–34:

(religious slur, uncommon) A female Christian priest or minister, typically in a Protestant, Old Catholic, or independent Catholic denomination.


Allah

From Arabic اللّٰه (allāh), contraction of اَل (al-, “the”) + إِلَه (ʔilah, “deity”); cognate with the Aramaic אלה (aláh) and אלהא (aláhâ), and Hebrew אֵל (él), אֱלוֹהַּ / אֱלֹהַּ (elóah) and אֱלוֹהִים \ אֱלֹהִים (elohím); ultimately from Proto-Semitic *ʾil-.-.

What is the Shia Islamic view on the attributes of Allah?

We are too much men and women; we are yet formed in the image of the Creator, and what can we say of Him with any certainty except that He, whoever He may be—Christ, Yahweh, Allah—He made us, did He not, because even He in His Infinite Perfection could not bear to be alone.

1998, Anne Rice, The Vampire Armand, New York: Knopf, →ISBN, →OL, page 273:

(Islam) God, in Islamic or Arabic contexts


altar

→ Maori: āta

From Middle English alter, from Old English alter, taken from Latin altare (“altar”), probably related to adolere (“burn”); thus "burning place", influenced by altus (“high”). Displaced native Middle English wēved.

[…] now marking the end of ascetic rationalism, the monadology no longer implied a sacrifice of individuality on the altar of rationality.

2000, Alain Renaut, M. B. De Bevoise, Era of the Individual: A Contribution to a History of Subjectivity:

(figurative) Any (real or notional) place where something is worshipped or sacrificed to.


aggregate

en-noun

aggregate (countable and uncountable, plural aggregates)

/ˈæɡ.ɹɪ.ɡət/

From Latin aggregātus, perfect passive participle of aggregō (“I flock together”), from ag- (combining form of ad (“to, toward”)) + gregō (“I flock or group”), from grex (“flock”). Compare gregarious.

(Buddhism) Any of the five attributes that constitute the sentient being.

سْكَانْدَا

any of the five aspects constituting the sentient being in Buddhism

skandha

attribute of the sentient being in Buddhism