Chiliasm

//ˈkɪ.lɪæ.z(ə)m// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Belief in an earthly thousand-year period of peace and prosperity, sometimes equated with the return of Jesus for that period.

    "It was, however, in the Puritan movement in England, and in similar movements on the continent — especially the Bohemian Brethren — that chiliasm asserted its greatest vitality as an historical force."

  2. 2
    Alternative form of chiliasm. alt-of, alternative
  3. 3
    belief in the Christian doctrine of the millennium mentioned in the Book of Revelations wordnet

Example

More examples

"It was, however, in the Puritan movement in England, and in similar movements on the continent — especially the Bohemian Brethren — that chiliasm asserted its greatest vitality as an historical force."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek χιλιασμός (khiliasmós), from χίλιοι (khílioi, “thousand”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.