Pagan
adj, name, noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A person not adhering to a main world religion; a follower of a pantheistic or nature-worshipping religion.
"This community has a surprising number of pagans."
- 2 a person who does not acknowledge your god wordnet
- 3 An uncivilized or unsocialized person. broadly, derogatory
- 4 someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures wordnet
- 5 An unruly, badly educated child. broadly, derogatory
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 a person who follows a polytheistic or pre-Christian religion (not a Christian or Muslim or Jew) wordnet
- 7 An outlaw biker who is a member of the Pagans MC.
- 8 Alternative form of paigon Multicultural-London-English, alt-of, alternative
- 1 Relating to, characteristic of religions that differ from main world religions. not-comparable
"Under Christianization, many converted societies transformed their pagan deities into saints."
- 2 Savage, immoral, uncivilized, wild. broadly, derogatory, not-comparable
- 1 not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and Islam wordnet
- 1 A male given name from Latin.
- 2 The city of Bagan, Myanmar. dated
- 3 A female given name. uncommon
"'I've always believed that one of the reasons she never named Pagan's father was to spare her a similar pain.' 'You don't know who he is?' 'No. And, at the risk of sounding like Candida, I'd give anything to find out.'"
- 4 The 9th- to 13th-century Burmese kingdom which had its capital at this city. historical
- 5 A surname.
"Mrs Pagan was delivered of a posthumous child, and thereafter along with the infant (a girl), she brought a process of aliment against John Pagan, who was a hosier in Dumfries, and alleged to be wealthy,[…]"
Example
More examples"Her mother was a Christian and her father a pagan, but this wasn't a problem for them at all."
Etymology
From Middle English pagan (adjective and noun), from Latin pāgānus (“rural, rustic; civilian”), replaced Middle English payen from the same root. The meaning “not Christian” arose in Vulgar Latin, probably from the 4th century, owing to the Roman countryside being largely non-Christian, or potentially from the “civilian” meaning—denoting those not in the “army of Christ”. As a self-designation of neopagans, attested since 1990. Partly displaced native heathen, from Old English hǣþen.
Borrowed from Latin pāgānus (“rustic, rural”).
Borrowing from Burmese ပုဂံ (pu.gam). Doublet of Bagan.