Definition of the word "Pagan" (cross-post)

[TaloN]

What is the simple modern definition of the word "pagan", as it is used in
books and literature?

}; )

This is a repost from alt.religion.wicca

[ramoth]

Oy. Remember that dictionary's are slow to shift with
common usage and slang trends. I think pagan would have
different meanings depending on the religion of the one you
asked, the culture they live in, their education level, etc.

Here's the definition. (Pay attention to the etymology.. cool
stuff, I say!) Again, thanks to http://www.m-w.com..

pa搽an
Function: noun (can be adjective)
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin paganus, from
Latin, country dweller, from pagus country district; akin to
Latin pangere to fix -- more at PACT
Date: 14th century

1 : HEATHEN 1; especially : a follower of a polytheistic
religion (as in ancient Rome)
2 : one who has little or no religion and who delights in
sensual pleasures and material goods : an irreligious or
hedonistic person

And for good measure, since "heathen" is stressed in this
definition, I looked that up as well.

heathen (NOUN)
Inflected Form(s): plural heathens or heathen
Date: before 12th century
1 : an unconverted member of a people or nation that does
not acknowledge the God of the Bible
2 : an uncivilized or irreligious person

hea暗hen (ADJECTIVE)
Etymology: Middle English hethen, from Old English
h[AE]then; akin to Old High German heidan heathen, and
probably to Old English h[AE]th heath
Date: before 12th century
1 : of or relating to heathens, their religions, or their customs
2 : STRANGE, UNCIVILIZED

Interesting that the major find, when I looked up heathen,
was the adjective, and the noune was secondary.

Rox
apparantly a dictionary buff. o_o (this is news to me..)

http://www.its.ilstu.edu/rmkorpa/
ICQ:22308489 yahoo:dramoth AIM:rxanne929

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[trailingvine]

In my own experiences, "pagan" is used to refer to anyone not
belonging to one of the religions who worship a deity
called"God"....as in one god, not many, one god, not Satan, one god,
not a prophet.
Hope this is what you are asking for.
"To live happily is an inward power of the soul"
Marcus Aurelius
trailingvine

[TaloN]

"trailingvine" <mv...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:3959f93a...@news.mindspring.com...

> On Tue, 27 Jun 2000 07:23:47 GMT, "TaloN" <Magick@(remove
> this)website-marketing.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >What is the simple modern definition of the word "pagan", as it is used
in
> >books and literature?
> >
> > }; )
> >
> >This is a repost from alt.religion.wicca
> >
> >
> >
> In my own experiences, "pagan" is used to refer to anyone not
> belonging to one of the religions who worship a deity
> called"God"....as in one god, not many, one god, not Satan, one god,
> not a prophet.

As in "other than monotheistic"?

[Pamela Maddison]

It all depends on what date you are talking about. The context I meet it
most is late antiquity, when it had its original meaning of "inhabitant of
the pagus", "country dweller", ie "yokel", "hick from the sticks". Roman
culture didn't penetrate very far into the countryside, either in Britain or
in Gaul, and until Martin of Tours got going the only Christians interested
in the country dwellers were the Pelagians, and it set up an association of
"uncultured" and "uneducated" with "not Christian". The term wasn't used in
the East; too many of the non-Christians were well educated, and the
terminology there was "Roman" = Christian; "Hellene" = non-Christian. I
suspect this seemed fairly hilarious to Westerners, particularly if they
found themselves with someone who spoke Greek and scarcely a word of Latin
patiently explaining that no, they weren't Greek, they were Roman; they had
nothing to do with people who thought little statues could work wonders.

TaloN <Magick@(remove this)website-marketing.com> wrote in message
news:7EY55.11466$fR2.1...@news1.rdc1.mi.home.com...

[TaloN]

Were the early romans refered to as "Pagan" by later english speaking
cultures?

"Pamela Maddison" <pam...@pemmaddison.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:8jb39k$u0p$1...@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk...

[Noinden]

In article <xVq65.12846$fR2.1...@news1.rdc1.mi.home.com>, TaloN
<Magick@(remove> wrote:

> Were the early romans refered to as "Pagan" by later english speaking
> cultures?

but do we care! Words are always changing in meaning!
(1) Nice once ment strange
(2) Gay ment happy

Thus the question is what is the meaning of pagan in THIS forumn!