atheism

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Usage notes 1.3.2 Derived terms 1.3.3 Related terms 1.3.4 See also 1.3.5 Translations 1.3.6 References

[edit] English

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[edit] Etymology

French athéisme, from athée (“‘atheist’”), from Ancient Greek ἄθεος (atheós), “‘godless’”) < from ἀ- (a-), “‘without’”) + θεός (theos), “‘deity, god’”).

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈeɪθiɪzəm/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

[edit] Noun

atheism (plural atheisms)

1. Absence of, or rejection of, belief in the existence of God or gods.
2. The belief that there are no gods, the denial of the existence of God or gods.

[edit] Usage notes

• The term atheism may refer either to an explicit belief that God or gods do not exist (sense 2 above), or to the mere lack of an explicit belief that God or gods do exist (sense 1 above). Some speakers do not distinguish between these senses; others distinguish them by using the terms strong atheism and weak atheism (respectively), or by using atheism to mean “strong atheism” and agnosticism or nontheism to mean “weak atheism”. (Similar distinctions may be drawn for related terms, such as atheist.) The distinction between strong atheism and weak atheism tends to be made primarily by atheists themselves.

[edit] Derived terms

• apatheism

[edit] Related terms

atheist atheistic atheistical

atheistically atheophobia

[edit] See also

agnosticism atheonism athean atheal deism

theism monotheism polytheism pantheism panentheism

[edit] Translations

[edit] References

• “atheism” in The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
• Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. 31 Aug. 2006. <Dictionary.com