religion

• Religion

From Middle English religioun, from Old French religion, from Latin religiō (“scrupulousness, pious misgivings, superstition, conscientiousness, sanctity, an object of veneration, cult-observance, reverence”). Most likely from the Proto-Indo-European *h₂leg- with the meanings preserved in Latin dīligere and legere (“to read repeatedly”, “to have something solely in mind”). Displaced Old English ǣfæstnes (“religion, lawfulness”).

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlɪd͡ʒən/
• Rhymes: -ɪdʒən

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religion (countable and uncountable, plural religions)

1. (uncountable) Belief in a spiritual or metaphysical reality (often including at least one deity), accompanied by practices or rituals pertaining to the belief.

   Synonyms: theism; faith; belief

   Antonyms: nonreligion, nonreligiousness; nonbelief, unbelief; irreligion, irreligiousness; atheism; antitheism, antireligion, antireligiousness

   Hypernym: belief system

   Hyponyms: deism, pandeism, pantheism, omnitheism; see kinds of religion

   Holonyms: cosmology, ontology, epistemology, philosophy

   Coordinate terms: agnosticism; transtheism; apatheism; ignosticism, igtheism; empiricism, science

   My brother tends to value religion, but my sister not as much.

   • 1902, William James, “Lecture 2”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC:

     Most books on the philosophy of religion try to begin with a precise definition of what its essence consists of. […] I shall not be pedantic enough to enumerate any of them to you now. Meanwhile the very fact that they are so many and so different from one another is enough to prove that the word “religion” cannot stand for any single principle or essence, but is rather a collective name.

   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 160:

     Phallicism was, therefore, at the root of all religion, and was definitely the opponent of evil and darkness.

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 103:

     Religion is not identical with spirituality; rather, religion is the form spirituality takes in a civilization; it is not so much the opiate of the masses as it is the antidote for the poisons of civilization.

2. (countable) A particular system of such belief, and the rituals and practices proper to it.

   Synonym: faith

   Hypernym: belief system

   Holonyms: cosmology, ontology, epistemology, philosophy

   Near-synonyms: credo, creed

   Islam is a major religion, particularly in North Africa and Southwest Asia.

   Mormonism is a new religion, while Zoroastrianism is an old one.

   • 1722, William Wollaston, “Sect. V. Truths relating to the Deity. Of his exiſtence, perfection, providence, &c.”, in The Religion of Nature Delineated‎^[1], page 81:

     Ignorant and ſuperſtitious wretches meaſure the actions of letterd and philoſophical men by the tattle of their nurſes or illiterate parents and companions, or by the faſhion of the country: and people of differing religions judge and condemn each other by their own tenents; when both of them cannot be in the right, and it is well if either of them are.

   • 1989 February 10, Stephen Fry et al., “Christening”, in A Bit of Fry and Laurie, season 1, episode 5:

     Priest: I wasn't being rude.
     Father: Just bear in mind that there are plenty of other religions you know. Some of them, I may say, offering much greater range and value.

3. (uncountable) The way of life committed to by monks and nuns.

   The monk entered religion when he was 20 years of age.

4. (uncountable, informal) Rituals and actions associated with religious beliefs, but considered apart from them.

   Synonym: (pejorative) superstition

   I think some Christians would love Jesus more if they weren't so stuck in religion.

   Jack's spiritual, but he's not really into religion.

5. (countable) Any practice to which someone or some group is seriously devoted.

   At this point, Star Trek has really become a religion.

   • 1985, Joan Morrison, Share House Blues, Boolarong Publications, page 97:

     'Religion can't exist without mystery, especially science, the newest religion.'

6. (uncountable, obsolete) Faithfulness to a given principle; conscientiousness. [16th–17th c.]
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 8, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     Oh with what religion doe I respect and observe the same!

• Some prefer a definition of religion that includes only theistic groups, viewing non-theistic religions as merely philosophical systems.
• Some use the word as a catch-all term for all systems of belief pertaining to morality, life after death (or lack thereof), the existence of a greater power, etc. Thus, nominally "non-religious" belief systems such as atheism, agnosticism, or spiritualism are sometimes included within the concept of "religion" despite not meeting the criteria for a religion in the traditional sense. This usage is opposed by some atheists who claim it is inaccurate to describe their beliefs as "religious beliefs."

• See also Thesaurus:religion

religion (third-person singular simple present religions, present participle religioning, simple past and past participle religioned)

1. Engage in religious practice.
   • 1978, Military Chaplains' Review, page 70:

     On the scales below, circle the one ( + ) or (-) number which best represents your situation on both the belief and practice dimensions for each of the traditional and nontraditional forms of religioning.

   • 2013, Monica R. Miller, Religion and Hip Hop, →ISBN, page 74:

     A similar caution is made by Nye when he calls for a re-evaluation of the category of religion in relationship to theory and method, suggesting that this category: be reconstructed in terms of practice theory as religious practice or religioning.

   • 2015, Alexander Horstmann, Jin-Heon Jung, Building Noah’s Ark for Migrants, Refugees, and Religious Communities, →ISBN, page 13:

     Religious practice and action (“religioning”) can be liberating, and can connect displaced people with the spirits of home.

2. Indoctrinate into a specific religion.
   • 1890, John R. Kelso, Deity analyzed: In six lectures - Page 37

     To men whose minds are thus religioned, tied back to gods that never advance, there can never be any such word as progress

   • 2007, Janette Oke, A Bride for Donnigan, →ISBN, page 225:

     “What do you do, Donnigan? Spend all yer time religioning yer young?”

3. To make sacred or symbolic; sanctify.
   • 1994, Timothy Morton, Shelley and the Revolution in Taste, →ISBN, page 238:

     The discussion of diet and health raises the question of the importance of discussing vegetarianism in relation to the contemporary religioning of health; as Ross remarks, 'health has replaced sexuality as the new privileged discourse of bodily truth and inner essence'.

   • 2011, Andrew O'Shea, Pedagogy, Oppression and Transformation in a 'Post-Critical' Climate, p 116

     The ideas expressed above challenge us to continuously rupture and interrupt racialized, classed, gendered, religioned and sexualized norms that inhere between and within institutions, understandings of bodies and our Selves.

   • 2013, Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip, Stephen Hunt, The Ashgate Research Companion to Contemporary Religion and Sexuality, →ISBN:

     If queer Jews, Muslims and Christians are engaged in queering their religions, they are also engaged in what might becalled 'religioning' the queer.

• Appendix:Religions

• “religion”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• religion in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “religion”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “religion”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• ligroine, reoiling

• IPA^(key): [ʁɛliɡˈjoˀn]

religion c (singular definite religionen, plural indefinite religioner)

1. religion

• “religion” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “religion” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

• IPA^(key): [reliˈɡion]
• Rhymes: -ion
• Hyphenation: re‧li‧gi‧on

religion

1. accusative singular of religio

Inherited from Middle French religion, from Old French religion, borrowed from Latin religiōnem.

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.li.ʒjɔ̃/
• Hyphenation: re‧li‧gion

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religion f (plural religions)

1. religion

   Synonyms: foi, culte, dévotion

• religieux
• religieuse
• religiosité

• “religion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

religion (plural religiones)

1. religion (system of belief, customs, etc.)

Borrowed from Latin religio, religionem.

religion m (plural [please provide])

1. religion

From Old French religion.

religion f (plural religions)

1. religion

• French: religion

religion m (definite singular religionen, indefinite plural religioner, definite plural religionene)

1. religion

• tro

• religionsfrihet
• statsreligion

• religiøs

religion m (definite singular religionen, indefinite plural religionar, definite plural religionane)

1. religion

• statsreligion

• religioun

Borrowed from Latin religiō.

religion oblique singular, f (oblique plural religions, nominative singular religion, nominative plural religions)

1. religion

• religieus

• → Middle English: religioun
  • English: religion
  • Scots: releegion
• French: religion
• Norman: r'ligion
• → Middle Dutch: religie
  • Dutch: religie
    • → Indonesian: religi

religion

1. religion

• IPA^(key): /reliˈd͡ʒuŋ/

religion f

1. religion

• IPA^(key): /rɛlɪˈjuːn/

• Audio:

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religion c

1. religion

• religionsfrihet
• religionskunskap
• religionslärare
• religionsvetare
• religiös

• ateism
• gud
• konventikel
• kyrklig
• monoteism
• relegera
• teologi
• tro

• religion in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• religion in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• religion in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)