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pagan

PAGAN
Pa"gan, n. Etym: [L. paganus a countryman, peasant, villager, a
pagan, fr. paganus of or pertaining to the country, rustic, also,
pagan, fr. pagus a district, canton, the country, perh. orig., a
district with fixed boundaries: cf. pangere to fasten. Cf. Painim,
Peasant, and Pact, also Heathen.]

Defn: One who worships false goods; an idolater; a heathen; one who
is neither a Christian, a Mohammedan, nor a Jew.
Neither having the accent of Christians, nor the gait of Christian,
pagan, nor man. Shak.

Syn.
 -- Gentile; heathen; idolater.
 -- Pagan, Gentile, Heathen. Gentile was applied to the other nations
of the earth as distinguished from the Jews. Pagan was the name given
to idolaters in the early Christian church, because the villagers,
being most remote from the centers of instruction, remained for a
long time unconverted. Heathen has the same origin. Pagan is now more
properly applied to rude and uncivilized idolaters, while heathen
embraces all who practice idolatry.

pagan

See Also