atheism

CEFRC2

/ˈeɪ.θi.ɪ.zəm/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
The belief that there is no God or gods.
02
noun
Extra detail
A non-belief in deities.

Examples

Jose chose atheism and he never regretted it.
Socrates was accused of atheism because he did not believe in Zeus.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

Belief that no deities exist (sometimes including rejection of other religious beliefs).
Absence of belief that any deities exist (including absence of the concept of deities).
A lack of belief in deities, or a belief that there is insufficient evidence to believe in a god.

More examples

In context

Atheism isn't a religious belief.
Near-synonyms: irreligion, irreligiousness, nonreligion, nonreligiousness
Near-synonyms: antireligiousness, irreligion, irreligiousness

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Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

For atheism to be rationally justified it is only necessary that it be more probable than not or at least more probable than theism. Certainty is no more required in the case of atheism than it is in the case of scientific theories.
2002, Michael Martin, “Should atheists be agnostics?”, in Julian Baggini, editor, The Philosophers' Magazine, number 19, →ISSN, archived from the original on 20 Dec 2002, page 18
The theory of Secularism is a form, not of dogmatic, but of skeptical, Atheism; it is dogmatic only in denying the sufficiency of the evidence for the being and perfections of God. It does not deny, it only does not believe, His existence.
1857, James Buchanan, Modern Atheism: under its forms of Pantheism, Materialism, Secularism, Development, and Natural Laws, Boston: Gould and Lincoln, page 365
What can parents do, and mothers more especially, […] with regard to the atheism that is natural to all the children of men?
1829, John Wesley, Sermons, on Several Occasions, 10th edition, volume 2, page 373
Atheism, in its basic form, is not a belief; it is the absence of belief. An atheist is not primarily a person who believes that a god does not exist; rather, he does not believe in the existence of a god.
1979, George H. Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God, Buffalo, New York: Prometheus, →ISBN, →LCCN, LCC BL2747.3.S6 1979, page 7
...but Atheism per se simply means, not denial, but rejection, in the sense of not accepting the Theistic theory of the universe which Mr. Lee has put forward tonight.
1896, George William Foote with W. T. Lee, “First Night”, in Theism or Athiesm: Which is the more reasonable?, London: R. Forder, page 17

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Origin

noun

16th century Middle French athéisme, from athée (“atheist”), a loan from Ancient Greek ἄθεος (átheos, “godless”, from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + θεός (theós, “deity, god”)). First English attestation dates to 1587 (OED).

Deep Dive

noun

More examples

Related

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His disbelief in any god or deity is known as blank—.

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Origin

noun

His disbelief in any god or deity is known as blank.