Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The religious beliefs and practices of pagans; religious opinion, worship, and conduct which is not Christian, Jewish, or Mohammedan.

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

  • noun The state of being pagan; pagan characteristics; esp., the worship of idols or false gods, or the system of religious opinions and worship maintained by pagans; heathenism.

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

  • noun Indigenous and polytheistic religions.
  • noun A class of religions often associated with nature rituals.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of various religions other than Christianity or Judaism or Islamism

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin paganismus ("heathenism"), from paganus ("peasant, rural, rustic"). The term was used as an insult by the early Christians to belittle what remained of the native religions.

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