• Heretic

    Pronunciation

    • (noun) US IPA: en, /ˈhɛɹɪtɪk/

    Origin

    From , heretike, from , from or , from , itself from .

    Full definition of heretic

    Noun

    heretic

    (plural heretics)
    1. Someone who believes contrary to the fundamental tenets of a religion they claim to belong to.
      • Skelton Complete|Hauke|62|lines=17–19|He semeth a sysmatyke
        Or els an heretike,
        For fayth in hym is faynte.
      • 1974, Thomas S. Szasz, M.D., The Myth of Mental Illness Chapter 11, In the framework of traditional medical ethics, the patient
        deserves humane attention only insofar as he is potentially
        healthy and is willing to be healthy—just as in the framework
        of traditional Christian ethics, the heretic deserved humane
        attention only insofar as he was potentially a true believer and
        was willing to become one. In the one case, people are
        accepted as human beings only because they might be healthy
        citizens; in the other, only because they might be faithful
        Christians. In short, neither was heresy formerly, nor is sick-
        ness now, given the kind of humane recognition which, from
        the point of view of an ethic of respect and tolerance, they
        deserve.
    2. Someone who does not conform to generally accepted beliefs or practices

    Hyponyms

    Derived terms

    Adjective

    heretic

    1. (archaic) Heretical; of or pertaining to heresy or heretics.

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