thetan

Coined by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, from theta + -n, from Ancient Greek θῆτα (thêta, “theta”), used in Scientology to represent the source of life.

coined

Actually a thetan is in a very, very small amount of mass. From some experiments conducted about fifteen or twenty years ago – a thetan weighed about 1.5 ounces!

1972, Report of the Commission of Enquiry into Scientology for 1972 (R. P. 55/1973), Pretoria: Government Printer, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 198:

According to Scientology doctrine, each human being is actually a thetan or spirit, an immortal, godlike expression of the life force (theta). […] In his writings, Hubbard traces the existence of this life force back trillions of years. In the beginning theta was separate from the physical universe. Theta had no energy or mass, time or location; it was simply energy. Thetans therefore existed before and are the original source of the material universe.

2009, David G. Bromley, “Making Sense of Scientology: Prophetic, Contractual Religion”, in James R. Lewis, editor, Scientology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 91:

One of the things Hubbard claimed he had "discovered" was that the essence of the human being was a spiritual being. This spiritual being, which is in itself good and fully conscious, Hubbard called a "thetan." From this deeper understanding of the human essence, where he saw survival as the fundamental urge for all thetans, he also discovered that the four dynamics of Dianetics had to be expanded to eight: […]

2014, Kjersti Hellesøy, “Scientology: The Making of a Religion”, in James R. Lewis, Jesper Aa[gaard] Petersen, editors, Controversial New Religions, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 260:


trigamy

en-noun

trigamy (countable and uncountable, plural trigamies)

From Ancient Greek τρίγαμος (trígamos), from τρία (tría, “three”) + γάμος (gámos, “marriage”). By surface analysis, tri- + -gamy.


piety

piety (countable and uncountable, plural pieties)

From Middle English piete, borrowed from Middle French pieté, from Latin pietās. See also the doublets pietà and pity.

Colleen's piety led her to make sacrifices that most people would not have made.

(uncountable, religion) Reverence and devotion to God.


observance

observance (countable and uncountable, plural observances)

From Old French observance, from Latin observantia. Equivalent of observe + -ance.

Thomas Merton was a monk in the Order of Cistertians of the Strict Observance.

(religion) A rule governing a religious order, especially in the Roman Catholic church.

обряд

(religion) a rule governing a religious order, especially in the Roman Catholic church


archdevil

/ɑɹt͡ʃˈdɛvəl/

/ɑɹt͡ʃˈdɛvɪl/

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

From the context and other parts of the work, we are to understand that the demons here described are the personal friends of our sovereign, and that the archdevil was the mother of our sovereign.

1802, The Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine, Volume 12, Open Court Publishing Company, page 30:

In short, it is purely the work of the devil that they are doing, and especially that of the archdevil, who presides at Muhlhausen, and directs nothing but robbery, murder and bloodshed.

1841, George Waddington, A History of the Reformation on the Continent: In Three Volumes, Duncan and Malcolm, page 155:

A spirit of ultraism seems to pervade the whole community. The language of Milton's archdevil "Evil, be thou my good" is the creed of modern reformers, or, in other words — anything for a change. What is to come of all this, I have not wisdom even to guess. It is an age of transition and whether you and I live to see the elements of the moral and political world at rest, is, I think, extretmely doubtful.

1851, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers: With Brief Notices of Passing Events, Facts, and Opinions, A.D. 1812 to A.D. 1842, Lippincott, Grambo and Company, page 517:

The bishops in question were described as archdevils, priests of Baal, standard-bearers of the Balaamites, and children of perdition.

1896, Marvin Richardson Vincent, The Age of Hildebrand, Christian Literature Company, page 267:

They are archdevils. Partake not of anything from their hands. Now I shall sell myself and do this act if only I have thee at my back.

1940, United States Congress, The Madras Law Journal, page 813:

(theology, rare, religion, fantasy, science fiction) A chief or reigning devil.


taqwa

It involves abstaining from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual relations from dawn to sunset, in the hopes that it will lead to greater "taqwa", or consciousness of God.

2020 April 20, Sami Rahman, “Ramadan 2020: The health benefits of fasting”, in Al Jazeera:

(Islam) The care taken by a person to obey the commands of Allah.


elder

From Middle English eldre, from Old English eldra, yldra, ieldra, from Proto-Germanic *alþizô. The vowel change from a to e triggered by the following i is called umlaut or I-mutation.

長老

Mormonism: title for a male missionary or a general authority

(Germanic paganism) A pagan or Heathen priest or priestess.


Isaac

en-proper noun

Isaac (countable and uncountable, plural Isaacs)

→ Pohnpeian: Aisek

From Middle English Ysaac, from Latin Isaac, from Ancient Greek Ἰσαάκ (Isaák), from Hebrew יצחק (Yiṣḥāq, literally “he laughs, he will laugh”). Explained in Genesis as referring to his mother Sarah’s laughing when she was told she would have a son at her old age. The verb is masculine, however, perhaps due to its use as a boy’s name.

der

And Abraham circumciſed his ſonne Iſaac, being eight dayes old, as God had commanded him.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 21:4, column 1:

(biblical) The son of Abraham and Sarah, father of Esau and Jacob, from whom the Hebrew people trace their descent.


ordination

en-noun

ordination (countable and uncountable, plural ordinations)

From Middle French ordination, from Old French ordinacion, from Latin ordinatio.

(Buddhism) the ceremony in which a bhikkhu or bhikkhuni is ordained into the sangha


bigamy

bigamy (countable and uncountable, plural bigamies)

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

From Middle English bigamie (“having two spouses simultaneously, bigamy; second marriage; marrying a widow or widower”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman bigamie and Middle French bigamie (“having two spouses simultaneously; second marriage; marrying a widow or widower”) (modern French bigamie (“bigamy”)), and its etymon Late Latin bigamia (“having two spouses simultaneously; second marriage”), from Late Latin, Latin bigamus (“bigamous”) + -ia (variant of -ius (suffix forming adjectives from nouns)). Bigamus is derived from bis (“twice, two times”) + Ancient Greek γάμος (gámos, “marriage; matrimony”) (from Proto-Indo-European *ǵem- (“to marry”)). The English word is analysable as bi- + -gamy.

der

Bigamie was a counterplea (deuiſed at yͤ Councell of Lyons, vpon mislike of ſecond marriage) to be obiected, when the priſoner demaundeth the benefite of the Clergie, to wit, his Book, as namely to ſay, that he which demaundeth the priuiledge of the Clergie, was married to ſuch a woman at ſuch a place, within ſuch a Dioceſſe, and that ſhee is dead, and that hee hath married another woman within the ſame Dioceſſe, or within ſome other Dioceſſe, and ſo is Bigamus.

1624, [John Rastell], “Bigamie”, in Les Termes de la Ley: Or, Certaine Difficult and Obscure VVords and Termes of the Common Lawes of This Realme Expounded. […], new edition, London: […] Company of Stationers, →OCLC, folio 45, recto and verso:

(ecclesiastical law, historical) A second marriage after the death of a spouse.


ember

From Middle English embryne (“running around, circuit”), from Old English ymbryne (“course; circuit”). Spelling changed through folk etymology. By surface analysis, umb- + run.

inh

ember fasts

ember days

ember weeks

(religion) Making a circuit of the year or the seasons; recurring in each quarter of the year, as certain religious days set apart for fasting and prayer.


overt

From Middle English overt, uverte (“open, uncovered; unfastened; accessible, unobstructed; clear, manifest”), from Anglo-Norman overt, Middle French ouvert, Old French overt, ouvert, uvert (“opened”) (modern French ouvert), past participle of Anglo-Norman, Old French ovrir, ouvrir, uvrir (“to open”), from Late Latin operire, variant of Latin aperīre (“to open”), from aperiō (“to open, uncover”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“away; from”) + *h₂wer- (“to cover, shut”). The English word is a doublet of apert and ouvert.

der

Scientologists are sure that the person must have “overts” against Scientology, therefore nothing a former member says can be trusted.

1990, Jon Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed, →ISBN, page 148:

Masturbation is an overt—strictly forbidden in Scientology, as Hubbard believed that it can slow one’s process to enlightenment.

2006 February 23, Janet Reitman, “Inside Scientology”, in Rolling Stone:

Anyone who leaves has committed “overts” (harmful acts) against the church and is withholding them. The church is obligated to make such people come clean, Hubbard said, because withholding overts against Scientology can lead to suicide or death by disease.

2019 October 17, Thomas C. Tobin, Joe Childs, “Part 1 — Scientology: The Truth Rundown”, in Tampa Bay Times:

(Scientology) An action or condition said to be detrimental to one’s own survival and thus unethical; the consciousness of such behaviour.


immanent

en-adj

immanent (comparative more immanent, superlative most immanent)

more immanent (comparative)
most immanent (superlative)

Entered English around 1530, via French, from Late Latin immanēns, present participle of Latin immanēre, from im- (“in”) + manēre (“to dwell, remain, stay”). Cognate with remain and manor.

(philosophy, metaphysics, theology, of a deity) Existing within and throughout the mind and the world; dwelling within and throughout all things, all time, etc. Compare transcendent.


plurality

en-noun

plurality (countable and uncountable, plural pluralities)

singularity

antonym(s) of “state of being more than one”

From plural + -ity, from Middle English pluralite, from Old French pluralité (“multitude, state of being plural”), from Latin plūrālitās.

der

It was the complaint and lamentation of Prelats, upon every least breath of a motion to remove pluralities, and distribute more equally Church revennu's, that then all learning would be for ever dasht and discourag'd.

(ecclesiastical) The holding of multiple benefices.

useamman kirkkoherranviran pitäminen

ecclesiastical: the holding of multiple benefices


Easter

en-noun

Easter (countable and uncountable, plural Easters)

→ Chickasaw: Iista'

The noun is derived from Middle English Ester, from Old English ēastre, seemingly from Ēastre, a proposed Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn whose festival is thought to have been celebrated around the vernal equinox. Further from Proto-West Germanic *Austrā, from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, derived from either Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“dawn; east”) or, more semantically plausible, from *austrą, *auzrą, a metathesized form of *wazrą (“spring (season)”), *-ǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥ (“spring”).
The English word is cognate with German Low German Oostern (“Easter”), Old High German ōstarūn (modern German Ostern) and is possibly a doublet of east. Despite a modern folk etymology, not related to Ishtar.
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

(paganism) A festival held in honour of the goddess Eostre or Ostara, celebrated at the vernal equinox or within the month of April; Eostre, Ostara.


Samuel

From Latin Samūēl, from Ancient Greek Σαμουήλ (Samouḗl), from Biblical Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל (šəmûʾēl, literally “name of God”) https://www.etymonline.com/word/samuel. It is also taken to mean "heard by God" or "asked of God."
According to 1 Samuel 1:20, the Biblical judge and prophet was given this name due to its similarity to a Hebrew word that means "heard by God."

Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 1:20:

(biblical) The primary author and central character of the first book of Samuel.


exclusivism

en-noun

exclusivism (countable and uncountable, plural exclusivisms)

(religion) The doctrine that one religion is the only true religion, or that one religious sect is the only true version of a larger religion.


sempiternity

From sempitern(al) + -ity, from Latin sempiternitas.

(philosophy, theology) Existence within time but infinitely into the future, as opposed to eternity, understood as existence outside time.


venial

en-adj

venial (comparative more venial, superlative most venial)

more venial (comparative)
most venial (superlative)

From Old French venial, borrowed from Late Latin veniālem (“pardonable”), from Latin venia (“forgiveness”).

(religion, of a sin) Not causing spiritual death.


imputation

en-noun

imputation (countable and uncountable, plural imputations)

From Middle French imputation, from Latin imputatio.

the imputation of the sin of Adam

the imputation of the righteousness of Christ

So, if a Sonne that is by his Father ſent about Merchandize, doe ſinfully miſcarry vpon the Sea; the imputation of his vvickedneſſe, by your rule, ſhould be impoſed vpon his Father that ſent him: […]

1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 84, column 2:

(theology) A setting of something to the account of; the attribution of personal guilt or personal righteousness of another.


syncretism

syncretism (countable and uncountable, plural syncretisms)

/ˈsɪŋkɹəˌtɪzm/

From Latin syncretismus, from Ancient Greek συγκρητισμός (sunkrētismós, “federation of Cretan cities”), from συγκρητίζω (sunkrētízō, “to unite against a common enemy”), from σύν (sún, “together”) (see English syn-) + Κρῆτες (Krêtes, “Cretans”). By surface analysis, syn- + Crete + -ism (“Crete joining together”).

der

συγκρητισμός

surf

Having thus established his trinity of hypotheses, M. Lamennais deduces therefrom, by a badly connected chain of analogies, his whole philosophy. And it is here especially that we notice the syncretism which is peculiar to him. The theory of M. Lamennais embraces all systems, and supports all opinions.

1876 [1840], “Second Memoir”, in Benjamin R. Tucker, transl., What is Property?, translation of Qu'est-ce que la propriété ? by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon:

It provides a more natural explanation of the Colossian syncretism as stemming from local religious impulses that continued to wield a powerful draw on people converted to Christianity from the local Jewish communities and pagan cults.[…]The kind of syncretism we find at Colossae was not unique to that city or region.

1995, Clinton E. Arnold, The Colossian Syncretism: The Interface Between Christianity and Folk Belief at Colossae, J.C.B. Mohr (Paul SieBeck), page 238:

Kraft's functional view of Anthropology eventually leads to syncretism because God is understood as working within a modern, humanistic paradigm.

2006, Gailyn Van Rheenen, “1: Syncretism and Contextualization: The Church on a Journey Defining Itself”, in Gailyn Van Rheenen, editor, Contextualization and Syncretism: Navigating Cultural Currents, Evangelical Missiological Society, page 7:

The strategies of religious syncretism—the active transformation through renegotiation, reorganization, and redefinition of clashing belief systems—are consistent with the creolization process.

2010, Marguerite Fernández Olmos, Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert, “Creole Religions of the Caribbean”, in Claudio Iván Remeseira, editor, Hispanic New York: A Sourcebook, Columbia University Press, page 222:

(chiefly religion) The reconciliation or fusion of different systems or beliefs (religious, cultural, or otherwise cosmologic or ontologic).


tutelary

From Latin tūtēlārius (“guardian”), from tūtēla (“tutelage, guardianship; dependent, client”) + -ārius (suffix denoting an agent of use); analysable as tutelar + -ary.

University of Cambridge
University of Oxford
William of Nottingham II

The qualifications demanded in a tutelary are activity combined with power over the minor malignant devils. Thus most of the superior celestial Buddhas and Bodhisats may be, and are, tutelaries. But the favourite ones are the great demon-kings, […]

1895, L[aurence] Austine Waddell, “Pantheon and Images”, in The Buddhism of Tibet: or Lamaism, with its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology, and in its Relation to Indian Buddhism, London: W. H. Allen & Co., →OCLC, page 361:

Thus, various Amerind tribes are devoted to foot-racing; yet the races are not tests of swiftness so much as divinatory or invocatory acts designed to appeal to tutelaries, and are usually set by seasons for planting or harvesting or hunting.

1906, Daniel Coit Gilman, Harry Thurston Peck, Frank Moore Colby, editors, The New International Encyclopedia, volume XII, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, →OCLC, page 766:

A tutelary is not a special sort of spirit or shrine; the word refers either to a clan shrine, which is theoretically the same for all members, or to the specific shrine or ancestor indicated by a diviner as being a man's own guardian spirit. Each individual has such a tutelary, but will not be aware of its name unless a diviner has been consulted.

1962, Jack Goody, Death, Property and the Ancestors: A Study of the Mortuary Customs of the LoDagaa of West Africa, London: Tavistock Publications, OCLC 8211112; republished as Death, Property and the Ancestors: A Study of the Mortuary Customs of the Lodagaa of West Africa, London: Routledge, 2004, ISBN 978-0-415-32984-2, page 210

To abate cold weather, the aid of tutelaries such as West Wind, Rain, and Thunder was invoked. Appropriate tutelaries might, upon appeal, bring snow upon enemies. During the Modoc War, a shaman acted to bring down the shielding fog against the army's advance.

1998, David H[eath] French, Kathrine S[tory] French, “Wasco, Wishram, and Cascades”, in Deward E. Walker, Jr., editor, Plateau (Handbook of North American Indians; 12), Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, →ISBN, page 460:

(religion, chiefly paganism) A deity or spirit serving as a guardian or protector of a place, person, culture, etc.; a tutelar, a tutelary deity.


Psalms

en-proper noun

the Psalms pl (normally plural, singular Psalm)

the Psalms (canonical plural)
Psalm (singular)

(biblical) A book of the Old Testament of the Bible, and of the Tanakh.


tablet

→ Scottish Gaelic: tablaid

From Middle English tablet, from Old French tablete (Modern French tablette), diminutive of table (“table”).

(religion) A short scripture written by the founders of the Baháʼí Faith.


zij

From Middle Persian zīg (literally “cord”).

Zijes are comprised of a set of canons and a set of tables. These tables can be grouped as follows: calendar conversions; mean motions; solar, lunar, and planetary equations; trigonometry and spherical astronomy; planetary latitudes, visibilities, and retrogradations; lunar visibility; precession or trepidation; solar and lunar eclipses; astrological tables; geographical coordinates; and star lists. Some zijes may not have had all these items, and others may have had [more]. In particular, planetary velocity tables appear in only [those] that derive from the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghrib.

2003, José Chabás, Bernard R. Goldstein, “Astronomical Commentary”, in The Alfonsine Tables of Toledo:

(Islam) An Islamic book that tabulates parameters used for various astronomical events and movements.


defile

en-verb

defile (third-person singular simple present defiles, present participle defiling, simple past and past participle defiled)

defiles (present singular third-person)
defiling (participle present)
defiled (participle past)
defiled (past)

From Late Middle English defilen (“to make dirty, befoul; to contaminate (the body or an organ) with dirt or disease; to pollute morally or spiritually; to desecrate, profane; to violate (the sanctity of marriage, an agreement or oath, etc.); to rape; to slander; to abuse; to destroy; to injure; to treat unfairly, oppress”) [and other forms], a variant of defoulen (“to make dirty, defile, pollute; to contaminate (the body or an organ) with dirt or disease; to pollute morally or spiritually; to desecrate, profane; to violate (the sanctity of marriage, an agreement or oath, etc.); to have sexual intercourse with; to rape; etc.”) (compare also defoilen). Defoulen is derived from Old French defouler (“to trample; to oppress; to outrage; to pollute; to violate”), from de- (prefix indicating actions are done more strongly or vigorously) + fouler (“to trample, tread on; to mistreat, oppress”), foler (“to destroy; to mistreat”) (from Vulgar Latin fullare (“to full (make cloth denser and firmer by soaking, beating, and pressing)”), from Latin fullō (“person who fulls cloth, fuller”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to blow; to inflate, swell; to bloom, flower”) or Etruscan 𐌘𐌖𐌋𐌖 (φulu)). The English word is analysable as de- (intensifying prefix) + file (“(archaic) to corrupt; to defile”).
The Middle English word defilen was probably formed from defoulen on the analogy of befilen (“to make dirty, befoul; to corrupt; to violate one's chastity; to desecrate; to slander”) and befoulen (“to make dirty, befoul; to violate one's chastity; to vilify”), respectively from filen (“to make foul, impure, or unclean, pollute; to pollute morally or spiritually; to desecrate, profane; to have sexual intercourse with; to rape; etc.”) and foulen (“to make dirty, pollute; to become dirty; to defecate; to deface or deform; to pollute morally or spiritually; to damage, injure; to destroy; to treat unfairly, oppress; to tread on, trample”). Filen and foulen are respectively from Old English fȳlan (“to befoul, defile, pollute”) and fūlian (“to foul”), both from Proto-West Germanic *fūlijan (“to make dirty, befoul”), from Proto-Germanic *fūlijaną (“to make dirty, befoul”), from *fūlaz (“dirty, foul; rotten”), from Proto-Indo-European *puH- (“foul; rotten”).
cognates
* Dutch bevuilen (“to defile, soil”)

cog

What ſo euer crepeth vpon earth, ſhall be an abhominacion vnto you, and ſhal not be eaten. […] Make not youre ſoules abhominable, and defyle you not in them, to ſtayne youre ſelues: for I am the LORDE youre God. Therfore ſhal ye ſanctifie youre ſelues, that ye maye be holy, for I am holy. And ye ſhal not defyle youreſelues on eny maner of crepynge beeſt, that crepeth vpon earth: […]

1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Leuiticus xj:[41 and 43–44], folio xlvi, verso, column 2:

That which dieth of it ſelfe, or is torne with beaſts, hee ſhall not eate to defile himſelfe therewith: I am the Lord.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 22:8, column 2:

(religion) To cause (something or someone) to become ritually unclean.


urna

From Sanskrit ऊर्णा (ūrṇā, “wool, thread”).

The urna is not worn by all, nor the monastic dress of the magnificent image of the Buddhistic prince on the right side of the great Buddha in the chanḍi Mĕndut.

1901, Isaac Groneman, translated by A. Dolk, The Hindu Ruins in the Plain of Parambanan, translation of original in Dutch:

The ûrna or mark upon the forehead and the long pierced ear lobes so generally characteristic of Buddhist images are not present in this instance.

1916, “Notes on Chinese statuary”, in The Museum Journal, volume 7, University of Pennsylvania University Museum, page 156:

Between the eyes is a curl of hair (urna), one of the identifying features of a Buddha, and the thing that looks like a nose is a miraculous light emanating from the urna (it can also be interpreted as the Nepali figure “one”, conveying the unity of all things).

2009, David Reed, The Rough Guide to Nepal, page 107:

(Buddhism) A spiral or circular dot placed on the forehead of Buddhist images as an auspicious mark.


peaceful

Derived from the derogatory term religion of peace, which is used against Islam itself for its association with violent attacks by Islamic extremists, and alleged support and lack of condemnation against them by certain Muslim communities.

They only have to use a bit of code to name those people; nowadays they call them “peacefuls”. A smirking euphemism is all it takes to sail through Twitter’s filter, and keep the hate-speech flowing.

(India, Islam, Islamophobic, Internet slang, offensive) a Muslim; especially a violent member of a radical Islamist group.


deuterogamist

(theology, law) A practicer or supporter of deuterogamy.

(theology, law) One who remarries after the divorce or death of their spouse.

(theology, law) One who believes in the moral right to, and the lawfulness of, remarriage after divorce or spousal death.


lector

From Middle English lector, lectoure, lectour, from Late Latin lēctor, from legō (“I read”). “Voice-over” sense probably adapted from Polish lektor.

(religion) A lay person who reads aloud certain religious texts in a church service.


Romans

(biblical) The sixth book of the New Testament of the Bible, the epistle of St Paul to the Christians in Rome.


resurrectionist

From resurrection (“the act of rising from the dead and becoming alive again”) + -ist (“forms agents of cause; forms adherents of a belief”), coined alongside resurrection man.

af

1830, A. Addis, Theory of Prophecy, Prol. p.xliv
Those who make the rest of the dead... to be the same with the remnant slain by the sword... to be consistent, ought to make the first resurrectionists the same with the armies in heaven.

(religion) A believer in a future bodily resurrection.


underworld

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

(religion or mythology) The world of the dead, located underneath the world of the living; the afterlife.

тот свет m (tot svet, literally “that world”)


Joshua

/ˈd͡ʒɒʃ(j)uːə/

From Biblical Hebrew יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshúa'), perhaps from הוֹשֵׁעַ (Hoshéa') with addition of יהוה (YHWH, “Yahweh”), thus meaning "Yahweh is salvation". See הוֹשִׁיעַ (hoshía', “to save”). By cognate a direct equivalent to Jesus via Latin Iēsus and Ancient Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs) from Aramaic יֵשׁוּע (Yēšū́ʿ), akin to Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshúa'), a variant of Yehoshúa'. The Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament consistently render the two Hebrew names Yehoshúa' (whence Joshua) and Yeshúa' (whence Jeshua) into Koine Greek as Iēsoûs (whence Jesus).

cog

Aramaic יֵשׁוּע (Yēšū́ʿ)

So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joshua 11:23:

(biblical) The son of Nun, Judge of Israel following Moses; author of the Book of Joshua; Quranic figure.


transcendental

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

In deference to Christian usage we can say that the transcendentals constitute the Logos within which everything has its being and according to which everything is made.

2002, Robert C. Neville, Religion in Late Modernity, State University of New York Press, page 72:

These predicates of Being are what the Medievals called, using a term that will have a fertile future, "transcendentals" (often called the "universals") because they transcend all particular genera, following the example of Being.⁹⁶ A quarrel over these transcendentals even shook the later Middle Ages. The quarrel stemmed from the question of whether the existence of these transcendentals was real or intellectual (also called nominal).

2012, Jean Grondin, translated by Lukas Soderstrom, Introduction to Metaphysics: From Parmenides to Levinas, Columbia University Press, page 105:

The medieval doctrine of the transcendentals is closely connected with a metaphysical conception of reality, but is there a science of being in William of Ockham (ca. 1285-1347)?

2012, Jan Aertsen, Medieval Philosophy as Transcendental Thought: From Philip the Chancellor (ca. 1225) to Francisco Suárez, BRILL, page 515:

Another fascinating thing about the transcendentals is that each is fully contained in the others. When you appreciate beauty, for example, you recognise the presence of goodness and truth. When you grasp the truth about something you experience a moment of beauty in, perhaps, the simplicity or power of the insight. When you observe goodness in the actions of another person you are seeing truth and beauty in operation.

2015, Anthony Howard, Humanise: Why Human-Centred Leadership is the Key to the 21st Century, Wiley, page 70:

(philosophy, metaphysics, Platonism, Christian theology, usually in the plural) Any one of the three transcendental properties of being: truth, beauty or goodness, which respectively are the ideals of science, art and religion and the principal subjects of the study of logic, aesthetics and ethics.

metaphysics; Platonism; metaphysics; Platonism


dualism

en-noun

dualism (countable and uncountable, plural dualisms)

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

The same conflict between the monism of temporal theorists and the dualism of ecclesiastical thinkers—the same opposition of organic to symbiotic union—occurred in the ninth century.

1964, Karl F. Morrison, Two Kingdoms: Ecclesiology in Carolingian Political Thought, Princeton University Press, page 4:

(theology) The belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces, such as good and evil; the belief that man has two basic natures, the physical and the spiritual.

ثَنَوِيَّة

the belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces


Manichaeism

From Latin Manichaeus + -ism, from Classical Syriac ܡܐܢܝ ܚܝܐ (Mānī ḥayyā, “Living Mani”), from the name of its founder, Mani, from Middle Persian Mānī, Classical Syriac ܡܐܢܝ (Mānī) (Modern Persian مانی (mâni)) + Classical Syriac ܚܝܐ (ḥayyā, “living, alive”).

der

(religion) A syncretic, dualistic religion that combines elements of Zoroastrian, Christian, and Gnostic thought, founded by the Iranian prophet Mani in 3rd century AD.


Esdras

From Latin Esdrās, from Ancient Greek Ἔσδρᾱς (Ésdrās), from Hebrew עזרא (Ezra). Doublet of Ezra.

(biblical) any of four books of the Old Testament and Apocrypha of the Bible.

以士拉书

Ī-sê̤ṳ-lá-cṳ̆


privilege

en-noun

privilege (countable and uncountable, plural privileges)

From Middle English privilege, from Anglo-Norman privilege and Old French privilege, from Latin prīvilēgium (“ordinance or law against or in favor of an individual”), from prīvus (“private”) + lēx, lēg- (“law”).

der

(ecclesiastical law, now chiefly historical) An exemption from certain laws granted by the Pope.


mysteries

(Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, religion) a number of secret societies or cults


pent

[> What symbols mean the most to you? For instance, what do you wear around your neck and why?]
Usually, a triquetra, although I have ankhs, pents and a spell-bottle on amber beads which I wear if I find it necessary to be *really* annoying :)

2002 August 27, Jani, “Re: Pagan Symbols.....and any others that spring to mind”, in uk.religion.pagan (Usenet):

(informal, paganism) A pentacle or pentagram.


alfa

(Islam) A West African cleric or religious teacher.


nihilist

(philosophy, religion) A person who accepts or champions nihilism.


shirk

A person can have committed shirk in their lifetime and still find forgiveness (especially by saying the Shahada and becoming a Muslim). The concept is that if one dies in this state (as a mushrik, an idolator, one who engages in and does not repent shirk), there is no forgiveness.

2013, James R. White, What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur'an, Baker Books, →ISBN:

(Islam) The unforgivable sin of association (of something with God).


ecumenical

en-adj

ecumenical (comparative more ecumenical, superlative most ecumenical)

more ecumenical (comparative)
most ecumenical (superlative)

From ecumenic + -al. By surface analysis, ecumene + -ical.

Within Europe, the church's ecumenical partnerships have demonstrated that ecclesial unity may have political resonances.

1999 June 5, Martyn Percy, “St Albion's Utd”, in The Guardian, London, retrieved 2022-01-29:

Nicaea has always been regarded as one of the milestones in the history of the Church, and reckoned as the first council to be styled ‘general’ or ‘oecumenical’.

2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, Penguin, published 2010, page 215:

Rather touchingly, an ecumenical mass of reparation for the victims of the massacres was held on October 29, in the very English village of Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire. The service was led by the Catholic bishop of Northampton, with Archbishop Metropolitan Stres from Ljubljana and the Anglican bishop of Buckingham.

2010 October 30, “Britain's Ancient Shame in Slovenia”, in The Economist, London:

(ecclesiastical) Pertaining to the universal Church, representing the entire Christian world; interdenominational; sometimes by extension, interreligious.

ekumenies

ecclesiastical: pertaining to the Christian Church in a worldwide sense


bhikshu

Transliteration of Sanskrit भिक्षु (bhikṣu, “beggar, mendicant, religious mendicant”).


welkin

Inherited from Middle English welken, wolken (“weather; heavens; earlier cloud”), from Old English wolcn (“cloud”) (wolcnu pl (“sky, heavens”)), from Proto-West Germanic *wolkn (“cloud”), from Proto-Germanic *wulkną (“cloud”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wl̥g-nó-s, from *welg- (“damp; wet”). Cognate with Dutch wolk (“cloud”), German Wolke (“cloud”).

[T]his villanous Poetry vvill vndoe you, by the VVelkin.

1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […], London: […] [R. Bradock] for M[atthew] L[ownes] […], published 1602, →OCLC, Act V:

Hovv glittereth novv this place of great requeſt, / Like to the ſeat of heavenly vvelkin hie?

1610, William Camden, “Kent”, in Philémon Holland, transl., Britain, or A Chorographicall Description of the Most Flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press for] Georgii Bishop & Ioannis Norton, →OCLC, page 327:

[…] Cassiopœia was taken, / Deep-bosomed wife of the king, whom oft far-seeing Apollo / Watched well-pleased from the welkin, the fairest of Æthiop women: […]

1858, Charles Kingsley, “Andromeda”, in Andromeda and Other Poems, London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son, […], →OCLC, page 4:

Here we have the sky thrice, three welkins, three lights, three heavens, three earths.

1868 March, Max Müller, “Art. VIII.—The Sixth Hymn of the First Book of the Rig Veda.”, in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, volume III (New Series), London: Trübner and Co., […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 239:

(religion) The place above the Earth where God or other deities live; heaven.


Yaldabaoth

/ˌjɑːldəˈbeɪɒθ/

Possibly from ילדא (yaldā, “begetter”) and Abaoth from Ancient Greek Σαβαώθ (Sabaṓth), from Biblical Hebrew צבאות (tsabāʾōθ), plural of צבא (tsābāʾ)

(Gnosticism) The Demiurge or 'False God'. Created when Sophia (one of the lesser aeons) tried to emanate without her counterpart (Christ).


disconnect

(Scientology) The deliberate severing of ties with family, friends, etc. considered antagonistic towards Scientology.

siteiden katkaisu

scientology: deliberate severing of ties with family and friends


bodhisattva

Borrowed from Sanskrit बोधिसत्त्व (bodhisattva, “enlightened existence”).

bor

Hanoi
Hà Nam Province
Vietnam
Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts
bodhisattva

Kimi was a true bodhisattva, and her English skills were excellent.

2021, Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness, Canongate Books (2022), page 414:

(Buddhism) A person who has taken specific lay or monastic vows and who is on the road to perfect knowledge; specifically, one who foregoes personal nirvana in order to help others achieve enlightenment.

(Buddhism) An enlightened being existing in a form of existence beyond the ordinary forms of physical reality understood and acknowledged by scientific thought, resembling the Western notion of angels, but with a wealth of its own nuances and expectations. These include the compassionate working for enlightenment of all sentient beings.


depravity

en-noun

depravity (countable and uncountable, plural depravities)

Here is a child of three years old, and she cannot tell who made her! Without question, she is equally in the dark as to her soul, its present depravity, and future destiny!

1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 8, in The Scarlet Letter:

(uncountable, Christian theology) Inborn corruption, entailing the belief that every facet of human nature has been polluted, defiled, and contaminated by sin.


sacerdotal

en-adj

sacerdotal (comparative more sacerdotal, superlative most sacerdotal)

more sacerdotal (comparative)
most sacerdotal (superlative)

From Middle English sacerdotale, from Old French sacerdotal, from Latin sacerdōtālis (“priestly”).

...and so neither is the Silence of the Reformed, and of the Church of England in relation to the Rebaptization of Persons Baptiz'd by Midwives and Laymen, any Argument against their receiving Sacerdotal Baptism; so long as that is the only Baptism which Christ Instituted, and which by his Law every one is bound to receive, who has not yet received it.

1711, Roger Laurence, Sacerdotal Powers:

...some of the figures are costumed in the style of religious art, with flowing sacerdotal garments.

Verena's initial appearance in Boston, as he called her performance at Miss Birdseye's, had been a great success; and this reflection added, as I say, to his habitually sacerdotal expression.

1885–1886, Henry James, The Bostonians […], London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 16 February 1886, →OCLC:

(religion) Of or relating to priests or a high religious order; priestly.

жречески

of or relating to priests or a high religious order


scandal

en-noun

scandal (countable and uncountable, plural scandals)

→ Japanese: スキャンダル (sukyandaru)

→ Korean: 스캔들 (seukaendeul)

→ Malay: skandal

From Middle French scandale (“indignation caused by misconduct or defamatory speech”), from Ecclesiastical Latin scandalum (“that on which one trips, cause of offense”, literally “stumbling block”), from Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον (skándalon, “a trap laid for an enemy, a cause of moral stumbling”), from Proto-Indo-European *skand- (“to jump”). Cognate with Latin scandō (“to climb”). First attested from Old Northern French escandle, but the modern word is a reborrowing. Doublet, via Old French esclandre, of slander.
Sense evolution from "cause of stumbling, that which causes one to sin, stumbling block" to "discredit to reputation, that which brings shame, thing of disgrace" is possibly due to early influence from other similar sounding words for infamy and disgrace (compare Old English scand (“ignominity, scandal, disgraceful thing”), Old High German scanda (“ignominy, disgrace”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰 (skanda, “shame, disgrace”)). See shand, shend, shonda.

cog

(theology) A word or deed, lacking in rectitude in some manner, which is an occasion of the spiritual ruin of another.


Jedi

Coined by American filmmaker George Lucas as early as 1973 (in the manuscript Journal of the Whills) and first used in his 1977 film Star Wars. Said to have been adapted from Japanese 時代劇 (jidaigeki, “‘period drama’ motion pictures about samurai”), or perhaps inspired by the words Jed (King) and Jeddak (Emperor) in the Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which Lucas had considered adapting to film. Another potential influence on the word "Jedi" is Hebrew ידיד (yadíd, “beloved; male friend”). In his book The Secret History of Star Wars, Michael Kaminski suggests that Lucas may have been influenced by this term when creating the name for his knights. Kaminski notes that Lucas has cited Jewish mysticism as an inspiration for his work, and that he may have been drawn to the idea of his heroes being beloved protectors.


saving

en-adj

saving (comparative more saving, superlative most saving)

more saving (comparative)
most saving (superlative)

(theology) That saves someone from damnation; redemptive.


Jonathan

en-proper noun

Jonathan (countable and uncountable, plural Jonathans)

/ˈd͡ʒɒnəθən/

/ˈd͡ʒɑnəθɪn/

Borrowed from Hebrew יְהוֹנָתָן (iehonatán), יוֹנָתָן (ionatán, literally “God has given”), apparently with influence from Aramaic [Term?].

bor+

And it came to pass, when he had made an end to speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

(biblical) A son of Saul, first mentioned in 1 Samuel.


devotion

en-noun

devotion (usually uncountable, plural devotions)

From Old French devocion, from Latin dēvōtiō, from dēvōtum + -tio, from the supine of dēvoveō (“vow, devote”); equivalent to devote + -ion.

(countable, ecclesiastical) A prayer (often found in the plural)


satisfactory

en-adj

satisfactory (comparative more satisfactory, superlative most satisfactory)

more satisfactory (comparative)
most satisfactory (superlative)

Borrowed from Middle French satisfactoire, from Late Latin satisfactōrius, from Latin satisfactus, past participle of satisfaciō.

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

[…] therefore the ſuffering of any other nature could not bee ſo pertinent, nor kindly ſatisfactory.

1623, John Mayer, The English Catechisme Explained, 3rd edition, London: Aug. Mathewes, page 36:

(theology) Making atonement for a sin; expiatory.


Acts

Acts of the Apostles
Acts of the Apostles#English

(biblical) Clipping of Acts of the Apostles.


Ark

(biblical) The boat built by the Biblical Noah to carry himself and the animals of the planet during the Flood.

(biblical) The chest carried by the Hebrews containing the stone tablets carved with the Ten Commandments.


Amen

Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament

To the angel of the church of Laodicea, write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.

1973, New Testament (New International Version), Revelation 3:14

(biblical) Jesus, Son of God, as the authority.


Beast

The Number of the Beast Is 666 (13:16-18) John's vision concludes with the notorious reference to the "mark of the beast" and the number 666.

2000, Robert H. Smith, Apocalypse: a commentary on Revelation in words and images, page 69:

(biblical) A figure in the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse), often identified with Satan or the Antichrist.


Abigail

From Hebrew אֲבִיגַיִל (avigáyil, “Abigail”, literally “my Father's joy” or “fountain of joy”).

bor

Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his doings.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 25:3:

(biblical) The wife of Nabal and later of David in the Old Testament.


Barak

And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 4:16:

(biblical) The commander of the army of Deborah in the Old Testament.


Antichrist

From Middle English Antecrist, from late Old English Antecrist, from Late Latin antichristus, from Ancient Greek ἀντίχριστος (antíkhristos). By surface analysis, anti- + Christ.
The modern spelling of the word is due to an effort to reflect the Latin etymon.

der

(Christianity, Islam) A false messiah who, under direct control of the Devil, will usher in the abomination in the end times; a false prophet.

Antikrishti

one under the direct control of the Devil


Ai

From Hebrew הָעַי (ha-'ai, “the heap of ruins”).

bor

(biblical) An ancient Canaanite royal city mentioned in the Book of Joshua, popularly believed to be the modern archeological site Et-Tell.

Ai

(biblical) An ancient city mentioned in Jeremiah 49:3 of unknown location, possibly the same city as definition 1.


Clear

(Scientology) An idea state of beingness free of unwanted influences.


Cana

Borrowed through Latin from Ancient Greek Κανά (Kaná); possibly from Hebrew קָנֶה (qané, “reed”).

(biblical) The site where Jesus miraculously turned water into wine.

𐕄𐔰𐕎𐔰

the site where Jesus miraculously turned water into wine


Creator

Who changed the trueth of God into a lye, and worshipped and serued the creature more then the Creatour, who is blessed for euer. Amen.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 1:25:

(religion) A god who created the Universe; God.


Apocalypse

From Ancient Greek ἀποκάλυψις (apokálupsis, “revelation”).

der

Apocalypses of Adam and Abraham (Epiphanius) and of Elias (Jerome) are also mentioned.

(countable, biblical) The written account of a revelation of hidden things given by God to a chosen prophet.

Openbaring

the written account of a revelation of hidden things given by God to a chosen prophet


Evangelist

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


Flood

The result of the Dispensation of Conscience was that “all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth;” that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually ;” and God closed the second testing of the natural man with judgment—the Flood.[…]
 Out of the fearful judgment of the Flood God saved eight persons to whom, after the waters were assuaged, He gave the purified earth with ample power to govern it. This, Noah and his descendants were responsible to do.

1888, C. I. Scofield, “The Seven Dispensations”, in Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15): Ten Outline Studies of The More Important Divisions of Scripture, Second edition (Religion), Philadelphia, Penn.: Philadelphia School of the Bible, published 1923, →OCLC, page 21:

(biblical) The flood referred to in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible.

Туфан

the flood referenced in the Book of Genesis


Jah

הַלְּלוּיָהּ הללויה#Hebrew

(religion) A shortened form of Yahweh or Jehovah, God's personal name in the Bible. Often appearing as part of Biblical names as "-iah", or "Jeho-" as in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jehoshua, and Jehosaphat, and Hebrew words like הַלְּלוּיָהּ (“hallelujah”).


Goddess

From Middle English, from Old English. See God for further etymology.

The single goddess of various bitheistic or duotheistic religions.

(Wicca) The Lady, the main deity in Wicca.


Heaven

Conſider firſt that the excommunicated Prelate ſaith... Kings are not immediatly from God, as by any ſpeciall Ordinance ſent from Heaven by the miniſtery of Angels and Prophets, there were but ſome few ſuch, as Moſes, Saul, David, etc.

1644, Samuel Rutherford, Lex, Rex: The Law and the Prince, V 16:

Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.

1667, John Milton, “Book I”, 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:

Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman ſcorn'd.

1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, page 39:

To grasp the Chinese's notion of Heaven, we must look at the contexts in which tian is used... In the Book of Odes (Shi jing 詩經), which includes poems dated between the eleventh and seventh centuries BCE, tian is a place where the Heavenly Thearch resides.

2011, Lillian Tseng, Picturing Heaven in Early China, section 2:

(religion) The abode of God or the gods, when considered as a specific location; the abode of the blessed departed who reside in the presence of God or the gods

...but that the will
And high permission of all-ruling Heaven
Left him at large to his own dark designs,

1667, John Milton, “Book I”, 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, line 212:

Heaven commands thine arm
To lift the sure-destroying sword!

...executing the just judgment of offended Heaven upon cattle-houghers, traitors, and assassins.

Cosmologists regarded Heaven as a force—composed of qi (氣), which was divided into yin (陰) and yang (陽) aspects—that kept the cosmos moving.

2011, Lillian Tseng, Picturing Heaven in Early China, section 3:

(religion) Providence, the will of God or the gods, when considered as a personal entity or specific aspect of the divine; Fate


Gad

Borrowed from Biblical Hebrew גָּד (gad), a son of Jacob.

bor+

(biblical) The seventh son of Jacob, by his wife's handmaid Zilpah.


Ki

(religion, mythology, Sumerian religion) In Sumerian mythology, the earth goddess and chief consort of the sky god, Anu.


Lammas

From Old English hlafmæsse (“loaf mass, harvest festival”).

inh

(paganism) A modern pagan festival celebrated in early August celebrating the start of the grain harvest.


Judges

Reference to the contents of the book, a chronicle of the acts of the Judges of Israel.

(biblical) The seventh book of the Old Testament, and a book of the Hebrew Tanakh.


Chan

Borrowed from the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 禪／禅 (Chán), a development and clipping of Middle Chinese 禪那 (MC dzyen na), a transcription of Sanskrit ध्यान (dhyāna, literally “meditation”). Doublet of dhyana and Zen.

der

It is possible that highly calligraphic painting styles, including the extreme forms of “flung-ink,” began at this time, but probably not under Ch’an Buddhist influence, which figured in the religious life of the dynasty.

[1964, Sherman E. Lee, “The Rise of the Arts of Painting and Ceramics in China”, in A History of Far Eastern Art, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 261, column 2:

(Buddhism) A major Chinese school of Mahayana Buddhism characterized by sudden enlightenment achieved by indirect means, developed in Japan as Zen.


Fall

(theology) The sudden fall of humanity into a state of sin, as brought about by the transgression of Adam and Eve.


Ham

(biblical) A son of Noah and the brother of Japheth and Shem.

Gam

a son of Noah and the brother of Japheth and Shem


Mar.

(ecclesiastical, title) Abbreviation of Master.


Dan

Traditionally held to be derived from Hebrew דָּן (Dan), although recent scholars instead link the name to Denyen, the Sea Peoples.

(biblical) The fifth son of Jacob and Bilhah (who was Rachel's handmaid).


Kama

Fundamentally, the doctrine and technique of Kāma go back to primitive antiquity.

1956, Heinrich Robert Zimmer, Philosophies of India, page 145:

In Indian mythology, Kāma is the counterpart of Cupid.

1969, Allie M. Frazier, Readings in Eastern Religious Thought: Hinduism, page 35:

On seeing Kāma annihilated there, the Devas and the groups of celestial damsels became frightened.

2001, Jagdish Lal Shastri, Arnold Kunst, G. P. Bhatt, Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology, volume 63, page 429:

However, when Śiva saw the proud Kāma getting ready to let another arrow fly, he got angry.

2006, Catherine Benton, God of Desire: Tales of Kamadeva in Sanskrit Story Literature, page 52:

(religion, Hinduism) The Hindu god of love, Kamadeva


Nob

(biblical) A place, north of Jerusalem, where the inhabitants were massacred by Saul.


Joanna

/ˌd͡ʒoʊˈænə/

From Latin Joanna, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets.
Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.

doublet

[A]nd the twelve were with him, and certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.

(biblical) One of the women following Jesus.


Master

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

...and our Lord as Master, Father, and Sage.

2002, A. J. Drew, Wicca for Couples: Making Magick Together, page 89

In respect to our Lord (God), these are the less known Master, Father, and Sage.

2003, A. J. Drew, Patricia Telesco, God/Goddess: Exploring and Celebrating the Two Sides of Wiccan Deity, page 38:

Master of the Seasons of the Year, I call upon you and ask you to be here with me in this, my ritual.

2009, Debbe Tompkins, Witch School: Living the Wiccan Life, page 18

(Wicca) One of the triune gods of the Horned God in Wicca alongside the Father and Sage and representing a boy or a young man


Mother

...different stages of life as represented by our Lady as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, as well as our Lord as Master, Father, and Sage.

2002, A.J. Drew, Wicca for Couples: Making Magick Together, page 90:

The Lady is often thought of as having three aspects: Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

2004, Aurora Greenbough, Cathy Jewell, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Spells and Spellcraft, page 9:

(Wicca) One of the triune goddesses of the Lady in Wicca alongside the Crone and Maiden and representing a woman older than a girlish Maiden but younger than an aged Crone.


Omer

Possibly from the Hebrew verb אמר (“to say, to tell”), itself cognate with Arabic أَمَرَ (ʔamara, “to command”).

(biblical) A masculine name included within a Biblical genealogy as a descendant of Esau at Genesis 36:11.


Eve

From Middle English Eve, Eue, from Old English Eue, Æue, from Latin Eva, from Ancient Greek Εὔα (Eúa), from Biblical Hebrew חַוָּה (ḥawwā).

And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 3:20:

After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her.

1904, Mark Twain, Extracts from Adam's Diary:

(Abrahamism, biblical) The first woman and mother of the human race; Adam's wife.


Lot

And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 12:5:

(biblical) A nephew of Abraham in the Bible and Quran.


Lent

Shortened form of Lenten, from Old English lencten, from Proto-West Germanic *langatīn (“spring”), as in a season into which days lengthen as it progresses. Related to German Lenz and Dutch lente (“springtime”).

الصَّوْم الْأَرْبَعِينِيّ

Christian period of penitence before Easter

(Buddhism, Myanmar) vassa, period of the Buddhist lent during the rainy season


Prophet

He would sit crouched up in a corner of the cave all day long, calling upon Allah and the Prophet to protect him.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:


Genesis

From Ancient Greek γένεσις (génesis, “creation, beginning, origin”).

der

(religion, biblical) The first book in the Hebrew Bible.


Paradise

From paradise.
The town in Newfoundland is named after Houmet Paradis near Guernsey.


Prohibition

(Islam) The 66th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.


Reader

(religion) Alternative form of reader (“a lay or minor cleric who reads lessons in a church service”).


Father

(Wicca) One of the triune gods of the Horned God in Wicca, representing a man, younger than the elderly Sage and older than the boyish Master.


Sage

en-proper-noun

Sage (countable and uncountable, plural Sages)

* As an English and French surname, from sage, a nickname for a wise person. The given name, in general use since the 1990s, is also associated with the sage plant. Compare Desage, Lesage.
* As an Irish surname, variant of Savage.
* As a German surname, from a placename derived from the noun sege (“sedge”) (see sedge).

(Wicca) One of the triune gods of the Horned God in Wicca, representing a man, older than a middle-aged Father and boyish Master


Sela

Borrowed from Biblical Hebrew סֶּלַע (Sela‛, “rock”); compare Arabic السَّلَع (as-salaʕ).

Selah, the capital of Idumea, built on an elevated plain, was situated in a deep valley, the entrance to which is by a lengthened defile, in some places not more than eight feet wide, which, in some parts, rising from 400 to 700 feet, nearly meet over head, about ninety miles to the south-east of Jerusalem. Mount Hor, celebrated in Scripture, overlooks the ruins of this ancient capital. It was called by the name of Petra from its rocky position; and by one of the prophets it is denominated "the Rock": it is also said, that Amaziah slew of Edom in the valley of Salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called of it the name of Joktheel unto this day. (Jer. xlix. 16, 2 Kings xiv. 7)

1838, John R. Miles, Scripture Geography; Containing Illustrations of all the Places Mentioned in the Old and New Testament; with Accounts of their Past and Present Condition, their History, Population, Customs, Laws, Produce, and Manufactures, and the Leading Events Connecting Them with the Christian Religion: To which are Added, Chronological, Geographical, and other Tables, Illustrative of the History of the Countries and People Mentioned in the Body of the Work, Manchester: S. Johnson, 88, Market Street; sold by Simpkin and Marshall, London; Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh; and Wm. Collins, Glasgow, →OCLC, page 268:

(biblical, historical) The capital of Edom, near Mount Hor; also known as Joktheel and Petra.


Benjamin

en-proper noun

Benjamin (countable and uncountable, plural Benjamins)

From Late Latin Benjamin, from Ancient Greek Βενιαμίν (Beniamín), from Biblical Hebrew בִּנְיָמִין (binyamīn, literally “son of the right/south or son of days”). Authorities differ on the meaning of the original Hebrew. Philo of Alexandria, the Samaritan Pentateuch The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs and Midrash Leḳaḥ-Ṭob understand יָמִין to mean "days" (a meaning attested in Daniel 12:13) understanding the name to mean "son of days (i.e. old age)" (compare to the direct translations into Arabic بِنْ يَومِين (bin yawmīn) "son of the days" and Arabic بِنْ يَمِين (bin yamīn) "son of the right hand"), a formula paraphrased in Genesis 40:22 where Benjamin is described as a child of Jacob's old age. Rashi in his commentary on Genesis also gives this as a possible meaning but favors an understanding of יָמִין to mean "right" in the sense of "the south", noting that Benjamin was the only son of Jacob born in the south. Jerome understood the name to mean "son of the right hand" and Gesenius speculated that this expression might have meant "son of good fortune".

cog

بِنْ يَومِين

Arabic بِنْ يَومِين

And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

What about the youngest child - the Benjamin - the child of its parents' mature strength and charity, always better treated than the unfortunate eldest children of their youthful ignorance and wilfulness?

1908, George Bernard Shaw, Getting Married:

(biblical) The youngest of the sons of Jacob and Rachel in the Bible.


Revelation

He had drunk more than was fit for him, and he was singing some light song, when he saw approaching, as he said, the pale horse mentioned in the Revelation, with Death seated as the rider.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

(biblical) The final book of the New Testament of the Bible.

Révélation

in New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

gamocxadebay c̣midisa maxareblisa da ɣmrtismeṭq̇vuelisa ioanesi

გამოცხადებაჲ წმიდისა მახარებლისა და ღმრთისმეტყვუელისა იოანესი


Ram

(biblical) The father of Amminadab and the son of Hezron.


Stigmata

(religion, Christianity) bodily marks or sores, corresponding in location to the crucifixion wounds of Christ; supposed to occur during states of religious ecstasy or hysteria, and sometimes reported to bleed periodically


Wisdom

(biblical) The Wisdom of Solomon, a book of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canon of the Old Testament, considered apocryphal by Protestants.


Job

From Latin Iob, from Ancient Greek Ἰώβ (Iṓb), from Biblical Hebrew אִיּוֹב (ʾiyyōḇ), related to אָיַב (ʾāyaḇ, “to be an enemy”) and אוֹיֵב (ʾōyēḇ, “enemy”).

(biblical) A book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.

(biblical) A character in the Old Testament and the Qur'an, renowned for his patience.


japan

en-verb

japan (third-person singular simple present japans, present participle japanning, simple past and past participle japanned)

japans (present singular third-person)
japanning (participle present)
japanned (participle past)
japanned (past)

From Japan, due to this varnishing process being an imitation of East Asian processes. Sense “to ordain” in reference to the black clothes worn by the clergy.

Jack, hearing that I was in this part of the world, sent me a very hearty letter, informing me, that he had been double-japanned (as he called it) about a year ago, and was the present incumbent of — […]

1826, George Colman, The Connoisseur, page 179:

(UK, slang, transitive, obsolete, religion) To ordain.


Ruth

From Ruth the Moabite, Hebrew רות, of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "companion". Also associated with the English noun ruth (“compassion”) by Puritans.

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ruth 1:16:

(biblical) The resident of Moab around whom the text centers.


forbidden fruit

en-noun

forbidden fruit (countable and uncountable, plural forbidden fruits)

With reference to Genesis 2:17: ‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’ (KJV)


Moon

From Middle English Mone, mone, from Old English mōna, from Proto-West Germanic *mānō, from Proto-Germanic *mēnô, from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), from *meh₁- (“to measure”).

inh

Moon, the companion of Night, waxes and wanes, and we call this time a month.

1994, Tony Linsell, Anglo-Saxon Mythology, Migration & Magic, Anglo-Saxon Books, →ISBN, page 15:

Moon's Day.

2005, Falcon Stow, An Anglo-Saxon Almanac, privately published, page 13:

Sun come, Moon come, Seed time, dry time, fog and rain, Sowing, growing, reaping, resting, Sun come, Moon come, etc.

2005, Diana Paxson, Taking up the Runes, Weiser Books, →ISBN, page 328:

(paganism) A personification of the moon.


Zen

From Japanese 禅(ぜん) (zen), from Middle Chinese 禪 (MC dzyen), an abbreviation of 禪那 (MC dzyen na), from Sanskrit ध्यान (dhyāna, “a type of meditation”). Doublet of dhyana and Chan.

der

For Orientals these mysterious formulae are clear and familiar truths, but for us they are completely bewildering... Dhyana Buddhism, which is known in Japan as "Zen"... is not speculation at all but immediate experience of what, as the bottomless ground of Being, cannot be apprehended by intellectual means, and cannot be conceived or interpreted even after the most unequivocal and incontestable experiences: one knows it by not knowing it.

1953, Richard Francis Carrington Hull translating Eugen Herrigel's Zen in the Art of Archery, p. 3

Philosophical mysticism, the idea that truth is indefinable and can be apprehended only by nonrational means, has been with us since the beginning of history. It's the basis of Zen practice.

1974, Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, page 235:

While Christianity teaches that man was expelled from the Garden of Eden, Zen teaches that we are living in paradise right now, even amid all the shit that's going down. This world is the Pure Land. This world is paradise. In fact, this world is better than paradise—but all we can do is piss and moan, and look around for something better.

2003, Brad Warner, Hardcore Zen, page 25:

(religion) A school of Mahayana Buddhism characterized by sudden enlightenment achieved by indirect means and principally associated with China and Japan.


Zen

en-adj

Zen (comparative more Zen, superlative most Zen)

more Zen (comparative)
most Zen (superlative)

Zen meditation

Zen monk

Zen master

(religion) Of or related to Zen Buddhism.


incomprehensible

incomprehensible (comparative more incomprehensible, superlative most incomprehensible)

more incomprehensible (comparative)
most incomprehensible (superlative)

From Middle French incomprehensible, from Latin incomprehensibilis. Equivalent to in- + comprehensible.

Prayer to God the Father: It is fitting and right to sing to You, to bless You, to praise You, to give thanks to You, to worship You in every place of your dominion: for You are God, beyond description, beyond understanding, invisible, incomprehensible, always existing, always the same; You and your only-begotten Son and your Holy Spirit

1969, “The Divine Liturgy of John Chrysostom: Liturgy of Offering”, in Joseph Raya, transl., edited by José de Vinck, Byzantine Daily Worship, Alleluia Press, page 282:

(theology or literary) Which cannot be contained; boundless, infinite.


Judas

From Middle English Iudas, from Latin Iudas, from Ancient Greek Ἰούδας (Ioúdas), from Hebrew יְהוּדָה (y'hudá). Doublet of Judah.

(biblical) One of the twelve original Apostles of Jesus, known for his role in Jesus' betrayal into the hands of Roman authorities.

[…] you should as well reject those Deuterocanonici of the new testament as the epistle to the Hebrewes, Judas epistle and the Apocalyps […]

1615, John Ainsworth, The Trying Out of the Truth […] , page 122:

The Catholique (or General) Epistle of the Apostle JUDAS

1675, Francis Roberts, Clavis Bibliorum: The Key of the Bible […] , page 573:

St. Peter writes against those that had the doctrine of Balaam, 2 Pet. ii. 15, 16. St. Judas did the same, Jud. v. 11.

1778, John James Bachmair, The Revelation of St. John Historically Explained […] , page 11:

(biblical, archaic) Alternative form of Jude, the penultimate book of the Bible and its ascribed author, Jude the Apostle.


Noah

From Biblical Hebrew נֹחַ (nóakh, nṓaḥ).

Now, on the night the baby Lord Jesus was born in that stable in Bethlehem, several came to bow down to him and his mother the lady Mary. They were three powerful warlords known as the Magi who brought many fine gifts. And still another, a wonderful man, a sea captain named Noah came to visit Jesus. His ship was called Noah's Ark. The Lord Jesus liked this Noah for he was a wise man, especially in the ways of animals whom he often took sailing in his Ark. This man, Noah was born long before the Lord Jesus but men in those days lived to be very old. So, no one can be sure, no one at all, that Noah did not visit Jesus in that stable in Bethlehem.

1958, 1:15:49 from the start, in The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, →OCLC:

But records of the first dynasty, that of the Xia, contain stories of a Great Flood with a Noah-like savior, the Emperor Yu, who gained the mandate of heaven after dredging canals to dispel the floodwaters and make the land safe. Historians have long wondered whether this flood account was a creation-style myth, the folk memory of a real event, or some mixture of the two. Some have dismissed the story of Emperor Yu as a fiction intended to justify centralized rule and, in the absence of any evidence of a massive flood at the time, many have regarded the stories of the Xia dynasty as more myth than history.

2016 August 4, Nicholas Wade, “Scientific Evidence of Flood May Give Credence to Legend of China’s First Dynasty”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-08-04, Science:

(religion) A figure in Abrahamic religions, believed to have built an ark to save his family and members of each species of animal from the Great Flood.


Mark

en-proper noun

Mark (countable and uncountable, plural Marks)

Translingual: markmitchelli

From Middle English Mark, from the Latin praenomen (i.e. first name) Mārcus, derived from Mārs, the Roman god of war, originally Māvors, from Proto-Italic *Māwortis.

(biblical) The Gospel of St. Mark, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the second of the four gospels.

Soiscéal Naofa Íosa Críost de réir Mharcais


D

(religion) Abbreviation of Deuteronomist.


Lord

Lord (countable and uncountable, plural Lords)

See lord.
In reference to the God of the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Bible, originally a translation (attested from the late Old English form hlāford) of the Vulgate Latin Dominus (“master of a house; lord”), translating the New Testament and the Septuagint's Ancient Greek ὁ κύριος or Κύριος (ó kýrios, "the supreme one; Lord, Kyrios"), both in reference to Hebrew אֲדֹנָי (ʾdny, "my lord; my Lord, Adonai") from אדון (ʾdwn, "lord, patron; Lord") + י- (-y, "my"), cognate with Phoenician 𐤀𐤃𐤍 (ʾdn, "lord; Lord, Adon"). Adonai appears in the Tanakh both directly and as a euphemism read aloud during occurrences of the Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH, "I Am that I Am; Jehovah"). See the usage notes below. Displaced the earlier term Drighten.

der

The Abrahamic deity of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths.

(Judaism, Islam) The God of Abraham and the Jewish scriptures.

...and our Lord [the Horned God] as Master, Father, and Sage.

2002, A.J. Drew, Wicca for Couples: Making Magick Together, page 89:

(religion) Any other deity particularly important to a religion or a worshipper.


R

One needs to be careful, however, to distinguish between original P and the work of the later priestly Redactor (R), who edited P and other documents in the postexilic period.

2006, David Ringo Miano, Shadow on the steps (dissertation), UC San Diego, page 5:

documentary hypothesis
documentary hypothesis

(religion) In the context of the documentary hypothesis, the Redactor(s) who compiled and edited the Torah.


Good Samaritan

From Luke 10:30-37, in which in a Jesus' parable, a Samaritan helped a half-dead Jew ignored by others.

(biblical) The subject of a particular New Testament parable, who helps a wounded man ignored by others.


lamasery

/ləˈmɑːsəɹi/

From French lamaserie, irregular formation from lama.

purposeful melody, reminding veterans of duty on the Himalayan station, of transmundane melody performed upon ancient horns fashioned from the thigh-bones of long-departed priests, in wind-beaten lamaseries miles above the level of a sea at this distance belonging more to legend than geography.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 490:


John

→ Arabic: جُون (jōn)

→ Cebuano: John

→ French: John

→ Italian: John

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

From Middle English John, Johan, Johannes, from Anglo-Norman Jehan, Johan, and also Old English Iohannes, both from Late Latin Iōhannēs, variant of Latin Iōannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Biblical Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yôḥānān), perhaps contracted from a former יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān, “God is gracious”).
Doublet of Jack, Jon, Johan, Johann, Johannes, Jean, Sean, Shane, Shaun, Ian, Ivan, Evan, Juan, Giovanni, and Yahya.

doublet

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 1:6:

(biblical) Persons of the Christian Bible: John the Baptist; and names possibly referring to one, two or three persons, frequently called "Saint": John the Apostle, John the Evangelist and John of Patmos (also called John the Divine or John the Theologian).

(biblical) The Gospel of St. John, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the fourth of the four gospels.

(biblical) One of the books in the New Testament of the Bible, the epistles of John (1 John, 2 John and 3 John).

Primerá Kartá de Jeneral de Yohánan El Apostol

פרימירה קארטה ג׳יניראל די יוחנן איל אפוסטול

קארטה סינונדה די יוחנן איל אפוסטול

קארטה טירסירה די יוחנן איל אפוסטול


P

(biblical, history) Abbreviation of Priestly source.


adharmic

en-adj

adharmic (comparative more adharmic, superlative most adharmic)

more adharmic (comparative)
most adharmic (superlative)

Anything that represents itself as a method of liberation, and yet promotes that which leads to the opposite of liberation is adharmic.

(Hinduism, Buddhism) unrighteous; contrary to universal law


H

H is priestly, evincing concern for cultic sacrifices, cultic observances, the behavior of priests, and ethical matters. H is not P, however, as it has unique vocabulary and contradicts several aspects of Priestly theology, such as the status of the Israelites, the importance of "the land," and whether YHWH or the Israelites own the land.

2015, Jason M. H. Gaines, The Poetic Priestly Source, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, →ISBN, page 277:

(religion) A hypothetical source proposed to underlie the Holiness Code and to have influenced various other parts of the Torah.


M

en-noun

M (countable and uncountable, plural Ms)

Coordinate term: H (“Hindu”)

(India, Islam, Internet slang) Initialism of Muslim; mostly used by Hindutva netizens primarily towards Islamist supporters and Muslim militants.


Q

(Islam, followed by an ayah (verse) number) Abbreviation of Quran.

In comparing Q 10:10–11 and Mark 6:11, there is no reliable way to determine which exact form of the saying is more primitive, the third person account of Mark or the direct speech recorded in Q.

2006, Brian Han Gregg, The Historical Jesus and the Final Judgment Sayings in Q, Mohr Siebeck, →ISBN, page 103:

(theology, Christianity) The hypothetical common source (logion collection) of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (from German Quelle (“source”)); all the non-Marcan shared material in those gospels (not always considered a single document)


apocalypticism

apocalypticism (countable and uncountable, plural apocalypticisms)

China's huge scale magnified the effects of apocalypticism in the Taipeng Rebellion.

2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 897:

(religion) A belief or doctrine based on apocalypse, especially which believes in an imminent end to the current world order.

apokalyptiikka

a belief or doctrine based on apocalypse


judgement day

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

If God's a-coming, he ought to make it by then / Maybe he'll look around himself and say / “Guess it's time for the judgement day!”

1968, Zager and Evans (lyrics and music), “In the Year 2525”:

But when I woke up this morning / I could have sworn it was judgement day

1982, Prince (lyrics and music), “1999 [title]”, in 1999:

(Christianity, Islam, Judaism) The final trial of all humankind, both the living and the dead, by God expected to take place at the end of the world, when each is rewarded or punished according to their merits; the Final Judgment, the Last Judgment.

يَوْم الْحِسَاب

final trial of all humankind at the end of the world


Armageddon

/ˌɑː(ɹ).məˈɡɛ.dn̩/

/ˌɑɹ.məˈɡɛ.dn̩/

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

From Ancient Greek Ἁρμαγεδών (Harmagedṓn), used in Revelation 16:16, referring to Mount Megiddo, the place of the last battle at the Last Judgment; from Hebrew הר מגידו / הַר מְגִדּוֹ (har megiddo).

he-l

הַר מְגִדּוֹ

הר מגידו / הַר מְגִדּוֹ (har megiddo)

And so, unfortunately, this great and spreading network of railways, that recently showed such promise as a major instrument in the modern development of China, must be left for the time being in the melting-pot of Armageddon.

1941 October, F. S. Bond, “The Railways of China”, in Railway Magazine, page 440:

(Christianity, Islam) Mount Megiddo, the site of a prophesied final battle between the forces of good and evil.


bid'a

(Islam) heretical innovation in Islamic religious beliefs or worship


'eid

Borrowed from Arabic عِيد (ʕīd, “holiday, carnival”).


faqir

(Islam) A religious mendicant who owns no personal property.


fitra

(Islam) The original innocent state of humans after being created by Allah.


hanif

(Islam) Any person, from before the time of Muhammad, who followed a non-pagan monotheistic religion.


muhajir

en-noun

muhajir (plural muhajireen or muhajirun)

/muːˈhɑːdʒɪə(ɹ)/

Borrowed from Arabic مُهَاجِر (muhājir, literally “emigrant”). Sense 2 is from its Urdu derivative مُہَاجِر (muhājir).

bor+

Alternative forms: mohagerin, mohagerian, mohagerine, mohajer, mohadjer, mohajir, muhajar, muhajirin

(Islam) A person who accompanied Muhammad during his migration from Mecca to Medina in 622.


du'a'

en-noun

du'a' (countable and uncountable, plural du'a's)

From Arabic دُعَاء (duʕāʔ, “supplication”), from دَعَا (daʕā, “to summon”).

Ramy murmured a quiet du'a, and they traipsed through the gate.

2022, R. F. Kuang, Babel, Harper Voyager 2023, p. 251

(Islam) A prayer; (specifically), a private prayer by an individual.

duajë

(Islam) private prayer by an individual — see also prayer


fiqh

fiqh (usually uncountable, plural fiqhs)

From Arabic فِقْه (fiqh, “intelligence, knowledge”)

bor

Various fiqhs (schools of jurisprudence) of Islam have different punishment for blasphemy, […]

2021, Ahmed Sayeed, Truth is Law, Faith is Flaw, page 180:

(Islam) Jurisprudence in the Islamic law, shari'a.


Hijri

Borrowed from Arabic هِجْرِيّ (hijriyy), nisba adjective of هِجْرَة (hijra, “Hijra”).

(Islam) the Islamic lunar calendar; begins with the migration of Muhammad, 16 July 622 AD; months begin at sunset on the day of visual sighting of the new moon


Ismail

From Arabic إِسْمَاعِيل (ʔismāʕīl). Doublet of Ishmael.

der

Arabic إِسْمَاعِيل (ʔismāʕīl)

(Islam) Ishmael, the first son of Abraham; traditionally the ancestor of the Arabs.


Hira

(Islam) the grotto or cave, in Saudi Arabia, where Muhammad first received the Qur'an from Gabriel.


Ibada

From Arabic عِبَادَة (ʕibāda, “worship”).

(Islam) service to Allah; sometimes included in the five pillars


ijtihad

en-noun

ijtihad (countable and uncountable, plural ijtihads)

Borrowed from Arabic اِجْتِهَاد (ijtihād, “diligence”).

bor

(Islam) The process of Muslim jurists or scholars making a legal or scientific judgment by independent reasoning from the Qur'an and the Sunna; discretion.


Ismaeli

Borrowed from Arabic إِسْمَاعِيلِيّ (ʔismāʕīliyy).

إِسْمَاعِيلِيّ

Arabic إِسْمَاعِيلِيّ (ʔismāʕīliyy)

(Islam) A member of branch of Shiite Islam which emphasises secrecy and certain gnostic ideas.


isnad

From Arabic إِسْنَاد (ʔisnād, “support, backing”).

(Islam) a Muslim tradition, specifying the chain of human reporters from the time of Muhammad that authenticates the legitimacy of a hadith (a report of sayings and acts of the prophet)


jahiliyyah

From Arabic جَاهِلِيَّة (jāhiliyya, “ignorance”).

Some valuable chapters are occupied with the drawing of parallels between the Arabian Jāhiliyyah, or pre-Islamic period, and Greek heroic antiquity; some others with the history of Arabic poetry, and an endeavour to define the characteristics of the different periods and their chief representatives.

1834: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, page 422 (Cambridge University Press for the Royal Asiatic Society)

(Islam, historical) The condition of ignorance, barbarism and unbelief in Arabia before the coming of Islam.


ijma'

Borrowed from Arabic إِجْمَاع (ʔijmāʕ, “consensus”)

(Islam) the consensus of ummah (legal scholars) representing all Muslims; one of the sources of Sunni jurisprudence


ahl al-kitab

Transliteration of Arabic أَهْل اَلْكِتَاب (ʔahl al-kitāb, “people of the book”).

translit

أَهْل اَلْكِتَاب


Khoja

Borrowed from Gujarati ખોજા (khojā), from Persian خواجه (xâje). Doublet of hodja and Hoxha.

(Islam) A member of a Gujarati-speaking Shiite sect who take the Aga Khan as their religious head.


ihram

en-noun

ihram (countable and uncountable, plural ihrams)

From Arabic إِحْرَام (ʔiḥrām, “prohibition”)

(Islam) The state of ritual purity and dedication of a Muslim hajj pilgrim to Mecca.

(Islam) The clothing worn on such a pilgrimage; one length of cotton cloth around the loins and another thrown over the left shoulder.


millah

From Arabic مِلَّة (milla, “nation, religion”).

bor

(Islam) Any variety of religion, except the religion of Islam.


kalam

Borrowed from Arabic كَلَام (kalām, “literary speech”).


hikmah

en-noun

hikmah (countable and uncountable, plural hikmahs)

Therefore to study hikmah (theosophy) is to undertake a journey towards God; towards divinity; in other words, to al-Haklm

1996, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Oliver Leaman, History of Islamic Philosophy, →ISBN, page 947:

Furthermore, the Qur'anic concept of hikmah, or wisdom, together with the concept of kitab, constitute the content of the Divine curriculum (kitab wa hikmah) that different historical societies were initiated into.

2013, Abdullah Sahin, New Directions in Islamic Education: Pedagogy and Identity Formation, →ISBN:

As such, hikmah is the knowing of the idea and reality of the Universal Truth of Divine Creation; that is to say, hikmah is the knowing of the Truth of God -- as Ibn Sina wrote, it encompasses Divine Science.

2015, Shahab Ahmed, What Is Islam?: The Importance of Being Islamic, →ISBN, page 16:

(Islam) Wisdom and understanding about the divine.


Khadija

/xəˈdiːd͡ʒə/

(Islam) the first wife of the prophet Muhammad; the mother of Fatima.


ra'y

(Islam) In early fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), a personal opinion in adapting Shari'a law.


Eid al-Fitr

From Arabic عِيد اَلْفِطْر (ʕīd al-fiṭr, “Festival of Breaking the Fast”) in reference to the previous avoidance of food from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan.

derived

عِيد اَلْفِطْر

Eid ul-Fitr is one of the main celebrations in the Islamic calendar. […] Prior to Eid ul-Fitr celebrations people give an extra donation of food or money that is distributed to needy people so that no one will be without the means to celebrate the event. This donation is called Zakat ul-Fitr.

1998, Barbara DuMoulin, Sylvia Sikundar, Celebrating Our Cultures: Language Arts Activities for Classroom Teachers, Markham, Ont.: Pembroke Publishers, →ISBN, page 27:

At the end of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate one of the most important Islamic holidays, Eid al-fitr. It is a one-day celebration after the last day of fasting. In the evening on the twenty-ninth day of Ramadan, we go out to see if the moon has appeared. If the moon is not seen, we fast one more day. If it is seen, the next day is Eid al-fitr. During Eid al-fitr, we visit friends and family and have people over to our houses. It is a very happy and special holiday for children.

2003, Aisha Karen Khan, What You Will See Inside a Mosque, Woodstock, Vt.: SkyLight Paths Publishing, →ISBN, page 20:

At the end of Ramadan, there is an exuberant celebration called Eid al-Fitr, the Festival of Fast-Breaking. […] Eid al-Fitr falls on the first day of Shawwal, the month that follows Ramadan in the Islamic calendar. In the morning, Muslims gather early in outdoor locations or mosques to perform the Eid prayer, which is a short congregational prayer followed by a sermon. After the sermon is finished, everyone leaves to visit family and friends. It is common to bring gifts, especially to children. The celebration can last as long as three days.

2015, Kathleen Tracy, Islamic Culture in the Middle East in Perspective (World Cultures in Perspective), Hockessin, De.: Mitchell Lane Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, page 27:

(Islam) The religious celebration at the end of Ramadan, on the first day of the tenth month of the Muslim lunar calendar.


wajib saum

(Islam) a required fast, such as that celebrating Ramadan


qadar

(Islam) Divine intervention in the affairs of humans; fate, predestination.


Mahdi

From Arabic مَهْدِيّ (mahdiyy, “guided one”).

Ahmadis consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmed to be the Mahdi.

"Of course, my Lord. You asked what they were shouting, though. It was Mahdi! They directed the term at the young master. When they-"
"At Paul?"
"Yes, my Lord. They've a legend here, a prophecy, that a leader will come to them, a child of a Bene Gesserit, to lead them to true freedom. It follows the familiar messiah pattern."

1965, Frank Herbert, Dune (Fiction), →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, pages 100–101:

Al-Afghani was a polyglot Persian who became an international agitator, aspiring [...] to unify the Muslim masses behind the Caliph (or even the Mahdi) and to become himself the Luther of an Islamic reformation.

2012, Piers Brendon, ‘Beginning the Dissent’, Literary Review, volume 401:

(Sunni Islam) A leader who, according to Sunni eschatology, will appear and restore peace and justice before the end of the world.

اَلْمَهْدِيُّ

a leader in Islamic eschatology who will appear and restore peace and justice before the end of the world


sakina

Arabic سَكِينَة (sakīna, “God-inspired peace of mind”)

uder

(Islam) the divine tranquility obtained by reciting the Qur'an


tilawa

(Islam) the ritual recitation of the Qur'an


tariqa

(Islam) a Sufi method of discipline, meditation and mystical insight, or a religious order based on this.


Abel

From Middle English Abel, from Old English Ābel, from Latin Abel, from Ancient Greek Ἅβελ (Hábel), from Biblical Hebrew הֶבֶל (Héḇel, “Abel”), possibly from the homonymous word הֶבֶל (heḇel, “breath, vapor; vanity”) or from Akkadian 𒌉𒍑 (ablu, “son”).

And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 4:8:

(biblical) The son of Adam and Eve who was killed by his brother Cain.


Yawm al-Din

Arabic يَوْم اَلدِّين (yawm ad-dīn, “day of judgment”)

يَوْم اَلدِّين


zadakat

From Classical Arabic صَدَقَة (ṣadaqa, “charity”)

(Islam) voluntary alms, or righteous acts


taqlid

From Arabic تَقْلِيد (taqlīd, “imitation”).

Muslims must not imagine that their sole duty was taqlid, the emulation of a jurist.

2000, Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God, Harper, published 2004, page 128:

(Islam) Conformity to traditional legal decisions in Shari'a jurisprudence.


wahy

Explicit philosophical discussion of wahy is not extensive. An important issue is the relative status and possible harmonisation of knowledge gained through philosophy and wahy.

2013, Ian Richard Netton, Encyclopaedia of Islam, page 292:

(Islam) The inspirational revelation of the Qur'an to Muhammad.


mihrab

Certainly there are nagging undertones of regret to the greatest of the Islamic monuments of Spain, the Great Mosque of Córdoba, for now that its mihrab has been demoted to be a mere curiosity, […].

1964, Jan Morris, Spain, Faber and Faber, published 2008, →ISBN:

(Islam) A niche in a mosque that indicates the qibla (direction of Mecca), and into which the imam prays.

(Islam) A design in a Muslim prayer mat with the same function.


qadi

From Arabic قَاضٍ (qāḍin, “judge”). Doublet of alcalde, casis, and cauzee.

To this the Jew agreed, and the two went together to the great hall, in which the kadi was administering justice.

legal treatises dealing with the subject usually spoke of the appointment to office of a qadi [...].

1985, Yasmin Hussain, Sharon Siddique, Ahmad Ibrahim, Readings on Islam in Southeast Asia:

The Qazi, his spiritual adviser, had recommended that the Russian be taken out into the desert and buried alive [...].

1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 74:

While sharia law for divorce in many Muslim countries has been modified by governments, in Israel reform was initiated by qadis.

2011 July 22, Jill Hamilton, The Guardian:

(Islam, law) A judge who is trained in and practices Islamic law


Fatima

(Islam) A daughter of the prophet Muhammad, the wife of Ali.


kalima

Borrowed from Arabic كَلِمَة (kalima, “word”)

لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله#Arabic

(Islam) the formal content of the shahada (declaration of faith): لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ (lā ʔilāha ʔillā llāhu muḥammadun rasūlu llāhi) "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."


tawhid

Borrowed from Arabic تَوْحِيد (tawḥīd, literally “declaring [God] one”).

bor+

(Islam) the central Islamic doctrine of God's divine unity


'umra

(Islam) A minor hajj, a lesser pilgrimage to Mecca, other than at the time of the hajj.


Husayn

Transliteration of Arabic حُسَيْن (ḥusayn), from the root ح س ن (ḥ-s-n).

translit

(Islam) A son of Ali and brother of Hassan; a martyr, and Shi'a Imam.


masjid

Borrowed from Arabic مَسْجِد (masjid), from the root س ج د (s-j-d). Doublet of mosque.

Any masjid where the practices are devoted absolutely to The God ALONE.

If you assign a place in your home or office for prayer, then it can be considered as your own masjid.


shari'a

From Arabic شَرِيعَة (šarīʕa, literally “path, way”).

bor

The legislation of shari'a here is very strict.

(Islam) A body of religious law forming a part of the Islamic tradition based on the scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith.


inclusivism

(religion) The view that all religions have a partial truth.


Hasan

en-proper noun

Hasan (countable and uncountable, plural Hasans)

From Arabic حَسَن (ḥasan, “fine, good, good-looking, handsome, manly; strong”).

bor

(Islam) The eldest son of Ali and brother of Husayn, both are Imams.


suhur

Borrowed from Arabic سَحُور (saḥūr), literally "of the dawn".

(Islam) A pre-dawn breakfast during the Ramadan fasting.


takbir

(Islam) A proclamation of the greatness of God, "Allahu akbar".


ulama

Borrowed from Arabic عُلَمَاء (ʕulamāʔ).

There he […] became disillusioned with much of the Islamic clerical establishment, and first expressed his contempt for what he called ‘religious secularists’, those foolish ulama who attempt to separate politics from religion.

2000, Zadie Smith, White Teeth, London: Penguin Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 469:


mujahid

en-noun

mujahid (plural mujahideen or mujahidin or mujahids)

mujahideen (plural)
mujahidin (plural)
mujahids (plural)

/mʊˈdʒɑːhɪd/

Borrowed from Arabic مُجَاهِد (mujāhid), derived from the active participle of جَاهَدَ (jāhada, “to strive in the cause of God”) (verbal noun: جِهَاد (jihād, “to strive in the cause of God as a religious duty”)), from the root ج ه د (j-h-d).

(Islam) A Muslim engaging in jihad, especially armed jihad; a jihadist.

奋战者 (fènzhànzhě) (a number of other translations exist with a 聖戰／圣战 "holy war" part)


RV

(biblical) Initialism of Revised Version.


saum

Borrowed from Arabic صَوْم (ṣawm, “fasting”).

(Islam) fasting; one of the five pillars of Islam


qiyas

Unadapted borrowing from Arabic قِيَاس (qiyās, “measurement, analogy”).

unadapted borrowing

(Islam) The use of analogy as precedent in Shari'a jurisprudence.


shahada

en-noun

shahada (usually uncountable, plural shahadas or shahadat)

Borrowed from Arabic شَهَادَة (šahāda, “witnessing”).

(Islam, especially theosophy) The Islamic declaration of belief in the unity of God, one of the five pillars, the formal content of which is the kalima (a minimal Islamic creed).


Allahu akbar

/əˌlɑːhuː ˈakbɑː/

From Arabic اللّٰهُ أَكْبَر (allāhu ʔakbar).

bor

اللّٰهُ أَكْبَر

Tokbîr is repeating three times these Words, اللّٰه أكبر Allah Akbar, which is to say, GOD is Greatest, before the Kelmah abovementioned.

1742, James Fraser, The History of Nadir Shah, London, page 126n:

The official said it was not immediately clear who the attackers were, but said some of them were shouting "Allahu Akbar" - a frequent cry of Chechnya's separatist rebels.

2004 June 22, Yuri Bagrov, The Guardian:

(Islam) "God is most great"; the Muslim takbir, or liturgical proclamation, used to accept sovereignty of God and as a common form of thanksgiving.


rasul

Borrowed from Arabic رَسُول (rasūl, “messenger”).

bor+

(Islam) A prophet or messenger in Islam; Muhammad, as a special messenger of God.


Ibrahim

Etymology tree
Hebrew אַבְרָהָםbor.
Aramaic אברהםbor.
Arabic إِبْرَاهِيم (ʔibrāhīm)bor.
English Ibrahim
Transliteration of Arabic إِبْرَاهِيم (ʔibrāhīm). Doublet of Abraham.

etymon

ar>إِبْرَاهِيم>prophet

translit

إِبْرَاهِيم

the prophet Abraham in Islam — see also Abraham


Wahhabi

Borrowed from Arabic وَهَّابِيّ (wahhābiyy, “Wahhabi”), ultimately named after Islam theologian Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Equivalent to Wahhab + -i.

named-after

(Islam) An adherent of Wahhabism (Sunni Islamic fundamentalist reform movement).


iftar

en-noun

iftar (countable and uncountable, plural iftars)

bor

Arabic إِفْطَار (ʔifṭār)

Iftars can be social events, where people congregate to eat and socialize.

On a recent afternoon in the Tunisian coastal city of Sfax, as shoppers hurried around a market buying food and drink for that evening’s iftar meal, a small group of men from sub-Saharan Africa gathered near a stall selling phone accessories.

2023 March 30, Simon Speakman Cordall, “Tunisian morgue overflows as more people attempt risky sea crossing”, in The Guardian:

(Islam) The evening meal (of dates) that breaks each day's fast during Ramadan.

iftaar

(Islam) the evening meal (of dates) that breaks each day's fast during Ramadan


qibla

en-noun

qibla (countable and uncountable, plural qiblas)

From Arabic قِبْلَة (qibla, “which is opposite”).

bor

The other mosques' qiblas are also in the 150°'s range, except for the Andalusian Mosque which has a qibla of 148° (table 7, fig. 17).

1990, Michael E. Bonine, “Sacred Direction and City Structure”, in Oleg Grabar, editor, Muqarnas: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture, volume 7, page 68:

Muslim astronomers from the 8th century onwards concerned themselves with the determination of the qibla as a problem of mathematical geography.

1999, David A. King, World Maps for Finding the Direction and Distance of Mecca, page 56:

The original portico was on the west side (i.e. at right angles to the qibla) and consisted of three bays resting on two marble columns.

2002, Andrew Petersen, Dictionary of Islamic Architecture, page 218:

(Islam) The direction in which Muslims face while praying, currently determined as the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca.


Sayyid

From Arabic سَيِّد (sayyid, “Master, Lord, the nobleman”).

uder

(Islam) An honorific title borne by male descendants of the prophet Muhammad.


ummah

Borrowed from Arabic أُمَّة (ʔumma, “community”). Cognate to Hebrew אומה / אֻמָּה (ʾummā, “nation”).

he-m

אומה / אֻמָּה (ʾummā, “nation”)

That concept of a united ummah has survived all subsequent divisions in Islam, including the great and so far permanent rupture between Sunni and Shī‘a [...].

2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 258:


hadith

en-noun

hadith (countable and uncountable, plural hadith or hadiths or ahadith)

hadith (plural)
hadiths (plural)
ahadith (plural)

From Arabic حَدِيث (ḥadīṯ, “Prophetic tradition”), from حَدَّثَ (ḥaddaṯa, “to tell, relate, report”).

bor

In addition to the Quran, Muslims also look to the hadiths for moral and spiritual guidance in their daily lives.

There are four main Shia books of hadith and six main Sunni books of hadith.

(countable, religion, Islam) An eyewitness account of a saying or action of Muhammad or sometimes one of his companions not otherwise found in the Quran.

hadith

collected sayings and actions of Muhammad

(countable, in the plural, religion, Islam) A particular accepted collection of such accounts, as from a single source or within a particular branch of Islam or Islamic jurisprudence.


tafsir

en-noun

tafsir (countable and uncountable, plural tafsirs or tafsir or tafasir)

tafsirs (plural)
tafsir (plural)
tafasir (plural)

Borrowed from Arabic تَفْسِير (tafsīr, “interpretation”).

bor

(Islam) Grammatical, historical, allegorical or traditional interpretations of the Qur'an.


loins

(biblical, euphemistic) The pubic region.

Neuertheleſſe, thou ſhalt not build the houſe, but thy ſonne that ſhall come foorth out of thy loynes, hee ſhall build the house vnto my Name.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 8:19, column 1:

The pubic region.
The reproductive organs.


arkan

en-noun

arkan pl (normally plural, singular rukn)

(Islam) The five "pillars", requirements or devotional duties of Islam: shahada, salat, zakat, saum and hajjh.


adhan

If one were to pray alone, then no adhan is needed.

(Islam) The call to prayer, which consisted originally of simply four takbirs followed by the statement (أَشْهَدُ أَنْ) لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا ٱلله ((ʔašhadu ʔan) lā ʔilāha ʔillā llāh).


iman

iman (countable and uncountable, plural imans)

From Arabic إِيمَان (ʔīmān, “faith, belief”).

(Islam, uncountable) Pious adherence to the Islamic faith.

(Islam, countable) A believer in the Islamic faith.


dervish

From Ottoman Turkish درویش (derviş), from Persian درویش (darvêš, “poor; Sufi mystic”), from Middle Persian dlgwš (driyōš, “poor, needy”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *drigu-, cognate with Sanskrit ध्रिगु (dhrigu, “needy”) and Avestan 𐬛𐬭𐬌𐬔𐬎 (driguš).

der

(Islam) An itinerant Sufi mystic practicing voluntary poverty in devotion to God, and often engaging in ecstatic rituals.

(historical) A citizen or inhabitant of Darawiish (circa 1895–1920 C.E.), an anti-colonial polity in modern Somalia headed by Sufis.

(historical) One of the followers of Muhammad Ahmad, the Mahdi of the Sudan, in the 1880s.

The Hejaz war, meanwhile, would be one of dervishes against regular troops.

1926, T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, New York: Anchor, published 1991, page 104:

(by extension) Any irregular guerrilla fighter resembling the Sudanese Mahdi in equipment, uniform, tactics, etc.


OT

(Scientology) Initialism of Operating Thetan.


TBS

(religion) Initialism of the True Buddha School.