heresy

CEFRC1

/ˈhɛɹəsi/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A belief that strongly disagrees with accepted religious teachings.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A controversial or unorthodox opinion held by a member of a group, as in politics, philosophy or science.

Examples

  • All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man.

  • Antonio was burnt at the stake for heresy.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A doctrine held by a member of a religion at variance or conflict with established religious beliefs.

More examples

In context

  • As for the accusations of heresy, here the evidence is much weaker.

  • Heresy meant deliberate departure from the accepted doctrines of the church. It was intellectual and spiritual dissent and concerned the beliefs of Christianity, not the morals of its adherents.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The church considered his claim that the Earth was round a blank.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English heresie (Middle English her(esie) + -esy), from Old French heresie (modern hérésie), from Latin haeresis, from Ancient Greek αἵρεσις (haíresis, “choice, system of principles”), from αἱρέομαι (hairéomai, “to take for oneself, to choose”), the middle voice of αἱρέω (hairéō, “to take”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ser-; see also Welsh herw (“theft, raid”), Ancient Greek στερέω (steréō, “to deprive of”).