'Total depravity' definitions:

Definition of 'total depravity'

From: WordNet
noun
The Calvinist doctrine that everyone is born in a state of corruption as a result of original sin

Definition of 'Total depravity'

From: GCIDE
  • Depravity \De*prav"i*ty\, n. [From Deprave: cf. L. pravitas crookedness, perverseness.] The state of being depraved or corrupted; a vitiated state of moral character; general badness of character; wickedness of mind or heart; absence of religious feeling and principle. [1913 Webster]
  • Total depravity. See Original sin, and Calvinism.
  • Syn: Corruption; vitiation; wickedness; vice; contamination; degeneracy.
  • Usage: Depravity, Depravation, Corruption. Depravilty is a vitiated state of mind or feeling; as, the depravity of the human heart; depravity of public morals. Depravation points to the act or process of making depraved, and hence to the end thus reached; as, a gradual depravation of principle; a depravation of manners, of the heart, etc. Corruption is the only one of these words which applies to physical substances, and in reference to these denotes the process by which their component parts are dissolved. Hence, when figuratively used, it denotes an utter vitiation of principle or feeling. Depravity applies only to the mind and heart: we can speak of a depraved taste, or a corrupt taste; in the first we introduce the notion that there has been the influence of bad training to pervert; in the second, that there is a want of true principle to pervert; in the second, that there is a want of true principles to decide. The other two words have a wider use: we can speak of the depravation or the corruption of taste and public sentiment. Depravity is more or less open; corruption is more or less disguised in its operations. What is depraved requires to be reformed; what is corrupt requires to be purified. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Total depravity'

From: GCIDE
  • Total \To"tal\, a. [F., fr. LL. totalis, fr. L. tolus all,whole. Cf. Factotum, Surtout, Teetotum.] Whole; not divided; entire; full; complete; absolute; as, a total departure from the evidence; a total loss. " Total darkness." "To undergo myself the total crime." --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Total abstinence. See Abstinence, n., 1.
  • Total depravity. (Theol.) See Original sin, under Original. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: Whole; entire; complete. See Whole. [1913 Webster]