Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state or condition of a heathen; heathenism.
  • noun Those parts of the world in which heathenism prevails: opposed to Christendom.
  • noun Heathen nations or peoples regarded collectively.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That part of the world where heathenism prevails; the heathen nations, considered collectively.
  • noun Heathenism.

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

  • noun The state of being heathen.
  • noun From one religion's or creed's perspective, the rest of the world that does not follow that creed or religion.
  • noun dated Specifically, the non-Christian world; territories where Christianity is not the dominant religion.
  • noun paganism The worldwide community that follows Heathenry, a modern pagan faith inspired by the pre-Christian religions of Germanic tribes, Anglo-Saxons and Norse peoples.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Compound of heathen plus -dom, as it were continuing Old English hǣðendōm, although the Old English word appears to have died out in Middle English, and heathendom was coined anew after Christendom around 1850. OED records a single attestation in the period between 1230 and 1840, a (nonce?) occurrence in J. Law, Proposals and reasons for constituting a council of trade in Scotland (1701, p. 233). Otherwise replaced by heathenism in the 17th and 18th centuries.

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Examples

  • U.S. presidential candidates, regardless of their heathendom, know they have to feign interest in religion to get elected, and typically hire consultants to coach them in the finer points of Christian doctrine, such as which half of the Bible the New Testament is found in.

    Archive 2007-11-01 Mike L 2007

  • U.S. presidential candidates, regardless of their heathendom, know they have to feign interest in religion to get elected, and typically hire consultants to coach them in the finer points of Christian doctrine, such as which half of the Bible the New Testament is found in.

    Once the real work is over Mike L 2007

  • The story was written about 1250 to illustrate the transition from heathendom to the

    The Nibelungenlied 2007

  • Behind me was heathendom and the black fever flats.

    Prester John 2005

  • He was introduced by the captain himself, a notably pious man, who spoke of the labours of his brother in the dark places of heathendom.

    Prester John 2005

  • The nunnery flourished for more than a century, when, in the time of Penda, who was the reactionary of heathendom, it fell into decay.

    The Lair of the White Worm 2003

  • The chant sounded as raw as the air, "- honored ancestors, great souls, Honored ancestors, great souls -" over and over, rite of a heathendom that the Tao and the Buddha had barely touched.

    The Boat of a Million Years Anderson, Poul, 1926- 1989

  • The chant sounded as raw as the air, "-honored ancestors, great souls, Honored ancestors, great souls-" over and over, rite of a heathendom that the Tao and the Buddha had barely touched.

    The Boat of a Million Years Anderson, Poul, 1926- 1988

  • Are not the very converts from heathendom putting some of us to shame?

    The Kneeling Christian Unknown Christian 1971

  • Tobias symbolized the powers of darkness, heathendom, and sin striving against the coming of salvation, and also Anna's long barrenness.

    The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary 1774-1824 1954

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