hea·then

(hē′thən)

n. pl. hea·thens or heathen

1. Offensive

a. An adherent of a religion that does not worship the God of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam.

b. Such persons considered as a group.

2. Heathen An adherent of a Neopagan religion that seeks to revive the religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Germanic peoples.

3. Informal

a. One who is regarded as irreligious, uncivilized, or unenlightened.

b. Such persons considered as a group.

[Middle English hethen, from Old English hǣthen; see kaito- in Indo-European roots.]

hea′then adj.

hea′then·dom, hea′then·ism, hea′then·ry n.

hea′then·ish adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

heathen

(ˈhiːðən)

n, pl -thens or -then

1. (Alternative Belief Systems) a person who does not acknowledge the God of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam; pagan

2. an uncivilized or barbaric person

3. (Alternative Belief Systems) the heathen (functioning as plural) heathens collectively

adj

4. (Alternative Belief Systems) irreligious; pagan

5. unenlightened; uncivilized; barbaric

6. (Alternative Belief Systems) of or relating to heathen peoples or their religious, moral, and other customs, practices, and beliefs

[Old English hǣthen; related to Old Norse heithinn, Old Frisian hēthin, Old High German heidan]

ˈheathenism, ˈheathenry n

ˈheathenness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hea•then

(ˈhi ðən)

n., pl. -thens, -then,
adj. n.

1. an unconverted individual of a people that do not acknowledge the God of the Bible or Koran; pagan.

2. an irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized person.

adj.

3. of or pertaining to heathens; pagan.

4. irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized.

[before 900; Middle English hethen, Old English hǣthen, c. Old Saxon hēthin, Old High German heidan, Old Norse heithinn, Gothic haithno (feminine n.); probably akin to heath]

hea′then•dom, n.

hea′then•ism, n.

hea′then•ize`, v.t., v.i. -ized, -iz•ing.

hea′then•ness, n.

syn: heathen, pagan are both applied to peoples who are not Christian, Jewish, or Muslim; these terms may also refer to irreligious peoples. heathen is often used of those whose religion is unfamiliar and therefore regarded as primitive, unenlightened, or uncivilized: heathen idols; heathen rites. pagan is most frequently used of the ancient Greeks and Romans who worshiped many deities: a pagan civilization.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	heathen - a person who does not acknowledge your god gentile, infidel, pagan nonreligious person - a person who does not manifest devotion to a deity paynim - a heathen; a person who is not a Christian (especially a Muslim) idol worshiper, idolater, idoliser, idolizer - a person who worships idols
Adj.	1.	heathen - not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and Islam heathenish, pagan, ethnic irreligious - hostile or indifferent to religion

heathen

noun (Old-fashioned)

1. pagan, infidel, unbeliever, idolater, idolatress the condescending air of missionaries seeking to convert the heathen

2. barbarian, savage, philistine, oaf, plebeian, ignoramus, boor She called us all heathens and hypocrites.

adjective

1. pagan, infidel, godless, irreligious, idolatrous, heathenish a heathen temple

2. uncivilized, savage, primitive, barbaric, brutish, unenlightened, uncultured to disappear into the cold heathen north

Quotations
"heathen: a benighted creature who has the folly to worship something that he can see and feel" [Ambrose Bierce The Devil's Dictionary]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

وَثَني، عابِد الأوثان

-kapohanpohanský

hedenskhedning

Heide heidnisch Heidin

αβάφτιστος

pagano

pakanapakanallinen

païen

heiîingi; heiîinn

pagano

pagonispagoniškas

heathen

[ˈhiːðən]

A. ADJ (= pagan) → pagano (fig) (= uncivilised) → bárbaro, salvaje

B. N (heathens or heathen (pl)) → pagano/a m/f (fig) → bárbaro/a m/f, salvaje mf

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

heathen

[ˈhiːðən]

adj → païen(ne)

n → païen(ne) m/f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

heathen

adj → heidnisch; (fig) → unkultiviert, unzivilisiert

n → Heide m, → Heidin f; (fig) → unkultivierter or unzivilisierter Mensch; the heathen (collectively, lit) → die Heiden; (fig) → die Barbaren

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

heathen

[ˈhiːð/ən] adj & n → pagano/a

heathen

(ˈhiːðən) noun, adjective

(of) a person who believes in a less advanced form of religion, especially one with many gods. Missionaries tried to convert the heathens to Christianity.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

ALTHOUGH there are lines of Beowulf which seem to show that the writer of the poem was a Christian, they must have been added by some one who copied or retold the story long after the Saxons had come to Britain, for the poet who first told the tale must have been a heathen, as all the Saxons were.

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"Some years he jest travels, week in and week out, and it's always in heathen countries--Egypt and Asia and the Desert of Sarah, you know."

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Robinson; "but if you give 'em anything they'd turn right round and give it to the heathen. His congregation up to Parsonsfield clubbed together and give him that gold watch he carries; I s'pose he'd 'a' handed that over too, only heathens always tell time by the sun 'n' don't need watches.

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"Now I have got you," said Sancho; "in that case the fame of them who bring the dead to life, who give sight to the blind, cure cripples, restore health to the sick, and before whose tombs there are lamps burning, and whose chapels are filled with devout folk on their knees adoring their relics be a better fame in this life and in the other than that which all the heathen emperors and knights-errant that have ever been in the world have left or may leave behind them?"

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We have men sold to build churches, women sold to support the gospel, and babes sold to purchase Bibles for the POOR HEATHEN! ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD AND THE GOOD OF SOULS!

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The quarrels, and divisions about religion, were evils unknown to the heathen. The reason was, because the religion of the heathen, consisted rather in rites and ceremonies, than in any constant belief.

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You're not quite a heathen. Where did you learn that?"

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"We have here among us, my friends," says Chadband, "a Gentile and a heathen, a dweller in the tents of Tom-all-Alone's and a mover-on upon the surface of the earth.

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"Why, if your Gospel is not strong enough to save one heathen child, that you can have at home here, all to yourself, what's the use of sending one or two poor missionaries off with it among thousands of just such?

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"Verily," replied the Pharisee; "let us hasten: for this generosity in the heathen is unwonted; and fickle-mindedness has ever been an attribute of the worshippers of Baal."

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It is then he will find in what mighty stead that heathen goddess, that virtue, which you and all other deists of the age adore, will stand him.

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to sail with such a heathen crew that have small touch of human mothers in them!

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