pagan

pagan
\ \ [14] The history of pagan is a bizarre series of semantic twists and turns that takes it back ultimately to Latin pāgus (source also of English peasant). This originally meant ‘something stuck in the ground as a landmark’ (it came from a base *pāg- ‘fix’ which also produced English page, palestake’, and polestick’ and is closely related to pact and peace).
\ \ It was extended metaphorically to ‘country area, village’, and the noun pāgānus was derived from it, denoting ‘country-dweller’. But then this in its turn began to shift semantically, first to ‘civilian’ and then (based on the early Christian notion that all members of the church were ‘soldiers’ of Christ) to ‘heathen’ – whence English pagan.
\ \ Cf.PACT, PAGE, PALE, PEACE, PEASANT, POLE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Pagan — (engl. pagan, frz. païen, ital. pagano, span. pagano, portug. pagão) ist ein deutsches Adjektiv und Fremdwort mit der Bedeutung „heidnisch, zum Heidentum (Paganismus) gehörig“. Es stammt von dem lateinischen Wort paganus, das ursprünglich… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • PAGAN — La ville de Pagan commande le passage entre les plaines de Kyaukse et de Mingu, les deux seuls bassins de l’Irrawaddy avant son delta. Elle se trouve à 210 de latitude nord, mais à l’intérieur des terres et à l’ombre des hauteurs de l’Arakan, qui …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • păgân — PĂGẤN, Ă, păgâni, e, s.m. şi f., adj. 1. s.m. şi f. Persoană care se închină zeilor sau idolilor; idolatru; p. ext. nume dat de creştini celor care sunt de altă religie decât cea creştină sau care nu are nici o religie; p. restr. turc, mahomedan …   Dicționar Român

  • Pagan — Pa gan (p[=a] gan), n. [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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Pagan — Студийный альбом Cruachan Дата выпуска 1 апреля 2004 Жанр …   Википедия

  • Pagan — Pa gan, a. [L. paganus of or pertaining to the country, pagan. See {Pagan}, n.] Of or pertaining to pagans; relating to the worship or the worshipers of false goods; heathen; idolatrous, as, pagan tribes or superstitions. [1913 Webster] And all… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • pagan — [pā′gən] n. [ME < LL(Ec) paganus, a heathen, pagan (contrasted with Christian or Jew) < L, a peasant, rustic < pagus, country < IE base * pak , to join, enclose, fasten > FANG, L pax] 1. a person who is not a Christian, Muslim, or… …   English World dictionary

  • Pagan [1] — Pagan, Insel in den nördlichen Marianen, 97,2 qkm mit (1903) 104 Einw. (74 Karolinier und 30 Chamorro), besteht aus zwei durch eine flache Ebene verbundenen, 300 m hohen, noch tätigen Vulkanbergen. Reiche Kokospalmenbestände umsäumen die Küsten… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • pagan — (n.) late 14c., from L.L. paganus pagan, in classical Latin villager, rustic, civilian, from pagus rural district, originally district limited by markers, thus related to pangere to fix, fasten, from PIE root *pag to fix (see PACT (Cf. pact)).… …   Etymology dictionary

  • pagan — [adj] irreligious agnostic, atheistic, heathen, idolatrous, impious, infidel, polytheistic, profane; concept 542 Ant. believing, religious pagan [n] person who does not believe in an orthodox religion agnostic, atheist, doubter, freethinker,… …   New thesaurus

  • Pagan — (spr. Pagang), Blaise Franc., Graf von P., geb. 1604; trat als 12jähriger Knabe in franz. Kriegsdienste u. machte den Feldzug von 1620, dann außer vielen anderen Belagerungen auch die von St. Jean d Angely, Montauban u. Rochelle mit u. trug… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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