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  1. heathen love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Offensive One who adheres to the religion of a people or nation that does not acknowledge the God of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam.
  2. n. Offensive Such persons considered as a group; the unconverted.
  3. n. An adherent of a Neopagan religion that seeks to revive the religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Germanic peoples.
  4. n. Informal One who is regarded as irreligious, uncivilized, or unenlightened.
  5. n. Informal Such persons considered as a group.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. One of a race, nation, or people that does not acknowledge the God of the Bible, or such races, nations, or peoples collectively, especially when uncivilized or uncultured; one who is not a Jew, Christian, or Mohammedan; a pagan.
  2. In Scripture, with the definite article, the gentiles; those nations or peoples that did not acknowledge Jehovah, the God of the Jews, as the true God; hence, idolaters, from the prevalence of idolatry among them.
  3. Any irreligious, rude, barbarous, or unthinking person or class: as, the heathen at home.
  4. Pagan; gentile: as, heathen superstitions or customs.
  5. Synonyms See gentile, n.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. not adhering to an Abrahamic religion; pagan.
  2. adj. by extension uncultured; uncivilized; savage, philistine.
  3. adj. Alternative capitalization of Heathen (pertaining or adhering to the Germanic neo-pagan faith Heathenry).
  4. n. A person who does not follow an Abrahamic religion; a pagan.
  5. n. by extension An uncultured or uncivilized person, philistine.
  6. n. Alternative capitalization of Heathen (an adherent of the Germanic neo-pagan faith of Heathenry).

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. 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. n. An irreligious person.
  3. adj. Gentile; pagan.
  4. adj. Barbarous; unenlightened; heathenish.
  5. adj. Irreligious; scoffing.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a person who does not acknowledge your god
  2. adj. not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and Islam

Etymologies

  1. Germanic: from Old English hǣþen, akin to heath on the moor, the poor, 'wild' countryside; cognate with Dutch heiden, German Heide. (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English hethen, from Old English hǣthen; see kaito- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

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  • brandelion definitely one of my very favorite words. Dec 2, 2006

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‘heathen’ has been looked up 2834 times, loved by 9 people, added to 34 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 13.