atheist
/ˈeɪ.θi.ɪst/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.62 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person who does not believe in deities or gods.
noun
A person who does not believe in deities or gods.
noun
A person who does not believe in deities or gods.
noun
A person who does not believe in deities or gods.
noun
A person who does not believe in a particular deity (but may believe in another deity).
noun
A person who does not believe in any religion (not even a religion without gods); a nonreligious person.
Example Sentences
- "Atheists. One who does not believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, an atheist, is incompetent as a witness, being incapable of being sworn. […] Changed by Acts of 1851, No. 12 (P. S. 1593), under which, no question can be raised as to a witness's "opinions on matters of religious belief.""
- "Ageine, the Atheistes, which say in their hartes there is no God; […]"
- "An atheist, like a Christian, holds that we can know whether or not there is a God. The Christian holds that we can know there is a God; the atheist, that we can know there is not."
- "Minister—Are you really an Atheist? Atheist—Yes. M.—Do you deny that there is a god? A.—No. I deny that there is sufficient reason to believe there is one. There may be a god, but I think it rather unlikely."
- "Very low probability, but short of zero. De facto atheist. ‘I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there.’"
- "All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God. Are they then criminal on account of their ignorance?"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Hellenic *ə- Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-)der. English a- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁sós Proto-Hellenic *tʰehós Ancient Greek θεός (theós) Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English theist English atheist From Middle French athéiste (athée + -iste), from Latin atheos, from Ancient Greek ἄθεος (átheos, “godless, without god”), from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + θεός (theós, “god”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dʰeh₁-, athéiste, atheos, ἄθεος
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Religion.
Inflected Forms
atheists (plural)
more atheist (comparative)
most atheist (superlative)
atheists (present, singular)
atheisting (participle, present)
atheisted (participle, past)
atheisted (past)