2 November 2014
heretic
[n. her-i-tik; adj. her-i-tik, huh-ret-ik]
noun
1. a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.
2. Roman Catholic Church. a baptized Roman Catholic who willfully and persistently rejects any article of faith.
3. anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.
adjective
4. heretical.
Origin
Middle English, Middle French, Late Latin, Greek
1300-1350; Middle English heretik < Middle French heretique < Late Latin haereticus < Greek hairetikós able to choose ( Late Greek: heretical), equivalent to hairet (ós) that may be taken (verbal adjective of haireîn to choose) + -ikos -ic
Related forms
semiheretic, adjective, noun
Synonyms
1. apostate, backslider, recreant, protestant. 3. dissenter, skeptic, freethinker.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for heretic
– The church burned him at the stake as a heretic.
– As a heretic he could not be given a proper church burial.
– Church leaders, who have labeled Headley a heretic, dispute his story and say he was an incompetent troublemaker.
Anagram
cheer it
cite her
the rice
Today’s aphorism
A heretic is a man who sees with his own eyes.
– Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
On this day
2 November 1917 – British Foreign Secretary, James Balfour, presents a declaration of intent to establish a national homeland in Palestine for the Jewish people. It became known as the ‘Balfour Declaration’.
2 November 1936 – launch of the British Broadcasting Commission (BBC-TV). World’s first regular television service. Initially broadcasting with a radius of 25 miles. It was taken off-air from 1939 – 1946 because of World War II. Now known as BBC One.
2 November 1942 – Australians recapture Kokoda from the Japanese during the Kokoda Track campaign. The campaign was fought from 21 July 1942 to 16 November 1942, in the Australian territory of Papua New Guinea between Japanese and predominantly Australian forces. The Kokoda Track wound through the Owen Stanley Ranges, which Japanese forces had invaded as they attempted to seize Port Moresby.