idolatry

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (1)  · 
If it is religious, the god of her idolatry is a bishop.

View all »
Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun Worship of idols.
  2. noun Blind or excessive devotion to something.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • He accuses his accusers of heresy and idolatry, and calls upon the nobles of Scotland to decide against them according to God's Word. —  John Knox
  • In a passage of one of his letters from abroad, alluding, I suppose, to what I used to say in opposition to him, he observes; "I think people are injudicious who talk against the Roman Catholics for worshipping Saints, and honouring the Virgin and images, &c.; These things may perhaps be idolatrous; I cannot make up my mind about it; but to my mind it is the Carnival that is real practical idolatry, as it is written, 'the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.'" —  Apologia Pro Vita Sua
  • Let us not be mistaken here; we are neither accusing Rome of idolatry nor ourselves of schism; we think neither charge tenable; but still the Roman Church practises what is so like idolatry, and the English Church makes much of what is so very like schism, that without deciding what is the duty of a Roman Catholic towards the Church of England in her present state, we do seriously think that members of the English Church have a providential direction given them, how to comport themselves towards the Church of Rome, while she is what she is One remark more about Antiquity and the Via Media_. —  Apologia Pro Vita Sua
  • It severely prohibits every kind of idolatry, both that which substitutes for the true God false and imaginary beings, or even beings real but contingent and created, and that which would associate in His worship a veneration for others, under the title of mediators or protectors; it then interdicts the making of any image whatsoever, when intended to represent the infinite and incorporeal Being, and bids us neither to pay to any such simulacra a religious respect or veneration, which is due to the true God alone, nor to practise such conventional acts, as, however insignificant in themselves, are yet held by idolaters as modes of worship. —  A Guide for the Religious Instruction of Jewish Youth
  • Many, I am sadly sure, still practise in secret their old idolatry--and find little more than mere amusement in the rites of our most holy Church. —  The Aztec Treasure-House
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 171 times.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English idolatrie, from Old French, from Latin īdōlolatrīa, from Greek eidōlolatreiā : eidōlon, idol; see idol + latreiā, service.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English idolatrie, from Old French idolatrie, French idolâtrie = Provencal ydolatria = Spanish idolatría = Portuguese Italian idolatria, from Middle Latin idolatria, contr. of Late Latin idololatria, from Greek εἰδωλολατρεία, idolatry, from εἰδωλολάλτρης, an idolater: see idolater.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/aɪˈdɑlətri/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a month.

Recently looked up

spunk · naomi · bicker · words · Alongside

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Der dicke Dachdecker deckte dir dein Dach, drum dank dem dicken Dachdecker, dass der dicke Dachdecker dir dein Dach deckte. · weitläufig · und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, so leben sie noch heute · redescheu · selbstverständlich