Dictionary-Definition.com :: Heathen definition

Definition of 'heathen'

adjective

Not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and Islam [syn: heathen, heathenish, pagan, ethnic]

noun

A person who does not acknowledge your god [syn: heathen, pagan, gentile, infidel]

From: GCIDE

Heathen \Hea"then\ (h[=e]"[th]'n; 277), n.; pl. Heathens (-[th]'nz) or collectively Heathen. [OE. hethen, AS. h[=ae][eth]en, prop. an adj. fr. h[=ae][eth] 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[=e][eth]in, adj., D. heiden a heathen, G. heide, OHG. heidan, Icel. hei[eth]inn, adj., Sw. heden, Goth. hai[thorn]n[=o], 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. [1913 Webster]
2. An irreligious person. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. --Ps. ii. 8.
Syn: Pagan; gentile. See Pagan. [1913 Webster]

From: GCIDE

Heathen \Hea"then\ (h[=e]"[th]'n; 277), n.; pl. Heathens (-[th]'nz) or collectively Heathen. [OE. hethen, AS. h[=ae][eth]en, prop. an adj. fr. h[=ae][eth] 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[=e][eth]in, adj., D. heiden a heathen, G. heide, OHG. heidan, Icel. hei[eth]inn, adj., Sw. heden, Goth. hai[thorn]n[=o], 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. [1913 Webster]
2. An irreligious person. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. --Ps. ii. 8.
Syn: Pagan; gentile. See Pagan. [1913 Webster]

From: GCIDE

Heathen \Hea"then\ (h[=e]"[th]'n), a.
1. Gentile; pagan; as, a heathen author. "The heathen philosopher." "All in gold, like heathen gods." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. Barbarous; unenlightened; heathenish. [1913 Webster]
3. Irreligious; scoffing. [1913 Webster]

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.