Hypertext Webster Gateway: "heathen"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Heathen
(Heb. plural goyum). At first the word _goyim_ denoted generally
all the nations of the world (Gen. 18:18; comp. Gal. 3:8). The
Jews afterwards became a people distinguished in a marked manner
from the other _goyim_. They were a separate people (Lev. 20:23;
26:14-45; Deut. 28), and the other nations, the Amorites,
Hittites, etc., were the _goyim_, the heathen, with whom the
Jews were forbidden to be associated in any way (Josh. 23:7; 1
Kings 11:2). The practice of idolatry was the characteristic of
these nations, and hence the word came to designate idolaters
(Ps. 106:47; Jer. 46:28; Lam. 1:3; Isa. 36:18), the wicked (Ps.
9:5, 15, 17).
The corresponding Greek word in the New Testament, _ethne_,
has similar shades of meaning. In Acts 22:21, Gal. 3:14, it
denotes the people of the earth generally; and in Matt. 6:7, an
idolater. In modern usage the word denotes all nations that are
strangers to revealed religion.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Heathen \Hea"then\, a.
1. Gentile; pagan; as, a heathen author. ``The heathen
philosopher.'' ``All in gold, like heathen gods.'' --Shak.
2. Barbarous; unenlightened; heathenish.
3. Irreligious; scoffing.
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}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
heathen
adj : not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and
Islam [syn: {heathenish}, {pagan}]
n : a person who does not acknowledge your God [syn: {pagan}, {gentile},
{infidel}]
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