Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A member of a Christian sect flourishing in western Europe in the 1100s and 1200s, whose dualistic belief, embracing asceticism and identifying the world as the creation of a satanic Demiurge, was condemned by the Church as heretical.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A member of certain so self-styled Novatian and other Christian sects embracing a form of dualism and extraordinary practices, persecuted by Roman Catholics as heretics.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French Cathare, from sing. of Medieval Latin Catharī, from Late Greek Katharoi, from pl. of Greek katharos, pure.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Recorded since the 16th century; from Medieval Latin Catharī, from late Greek καθαροί (katharoí, "the Pure"), plural of Ancient Greek καθαρός (katharós, "pure").

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