Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Heathens"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Heathen \Hea"then\ (?; 277), n.; pl. {Heathens}or collectively
{Heathen}. [OE. hethen, AS. h??en, prop. an adj. fr. h??
heath, and orig., therefore, one who lives in the country or
on the heaths and in the woods (cf. pagan, fr. pagus
village); akin to OS. h??in, adj., D. heiden a heathen, G.
heide, OHG. heidan, Icel. hei?inn, adj., Sw. heden, Goth.
haipn?, n. fem. See {Heath}, and cf. {Hoiden}.]
1. An individual of the pagan or unbelieving nations, or
those which worship idols and do not acknowledge the true
God; a pagan; an idolater.
2. An irreligious person.
If it is no more than a moral discourse, he may
preach it and they may hear it, and yet both
continue unconverted heathens. --V. Knox.
{The heathen}, as the term is used in the Scriptures, all
people except the Jews; now used of all people except
Christians, Jews, and Mohammedans.
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance. --Ps. ii. 8.
Syn: Pagan; gentile. See {Pagan}.
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.