atheism
/ˈeɪ.θi.ɪ.zəm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.45 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Neglect of one's obligations to God; behavior incongruent with belief in God (regardless of belief in the strict sense).
Uncountable
noun
Absence of belief in a particular deity, pantheon, or religious doctrine (notwithstanding belief in other deities).
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonyms: antireligiousness, irreligion, irreligiousness"
- "For atheism to be rationally justified it is only necessary that it be more probable than not or at least more probable than theism. Certainty is no more required in the case of atheism than it is in the case of scientific theories."
- "Near-synonyms: irreligion, irreligiousness, nonreligion, nonreligiousness"
- "The theory of Secularism is a form, not of dogmatic, but of skeptical, Atheism; it is dogmatic only in denying the sufficiency of the evidence for the being and perfections of God. It does not deny, it only does not believe, His existence."
- "...but Atheism per se simply means, not denial, but rejection, in the sense of not accepting the Theistic theory of the universe which Mr. Lee has put forward tonight."
- "What can parents do, and mothers more especially, […] with regard to the atheism that is natural to all the children of men?"
Etymology
16th century Middle French athéisme, from athée (“atheist”), a loan from Ancient Greek ἄθεος (átheos, “godless”, from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + θεός (theós, “deity, god”)). First English attestation dates to 1587 (OED).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: athéisme, ἄθεος
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Religion.