different between heathen vs gentile

English

Etymology

From Middle English hethen, from Old English h?þen, from Proto-West Germanic *haiþin, from Proto-Germanic *haiþinaz (“heathen, pagan”, adj), equivalent to heath (“heathland”) +? -en. Cognate with West Frisian heiden, Dutch heiden, Middle High German heiden, Swedish heden, Icelandic heiðinn. See also Proto-Germanic *haiduz, Old Norse heiðr (honour, bright, moor), Icelandic heiður (honour).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?hi?ð?n/
• Rhymes: -i?ð?n

Adjective

heathen (not comparable)

1. Not adhering to Christian religion (though usually excluding the Jews); pagan.
2. (by extension) Uncultured; uncivilized; savage, philistine.
3. Alternative letter-case form of Heathen (pertaining or adhering to the Germanic neo-pagan faith Heathenry).

Translations

Noun

heathen (plural heathens or heathen)

1. A person who does not follow a Christian religion; a pagan.
   • V. Knox

     If it is no more than a moral discourse, he may preach it and they may hear it, and yet both continue unconverted heathens.

   • 1930, H. E. Bolton, Anza's California expeditions (volume 1, page 403)

     On hearing his cries two heathen who were hunting on the lagoon ran up, and they were bold enough to try to avenge the injury, making ready to shoot arrows at the soldiers, who fired two gunshots just to frighten them […]

2. (by extension) An uncultured or uncivilized person, philistine.
3. Alternative letter-case form of Heathen (an adherent of the Germanic neo-pagan faith of Heathenry).

Coordinate terms

• (religionists) religionist; Baha'i,? Buddhist,? Christian,? deist,? Druid,? Eckist,? heathen,? Hindu,? Jain,? Jedi,? Jew,? Mormon,? Mormonist,? Muslim,? Odinist,? pagan,? Pastafarian,? Rastafarian,? Raëlian,? Shintoist,? Sikh,? Taoist,? Unitarian Universalist,? Yazidi,? Wiccan,? Zoroastrian ^{(Category: en:Religion) [edit]}

Derived terms

Further reading

• heathen on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• Gentile

Etymology

Borrowed from French gentil (“gentile”), from Latin gent?lis (“of or belonging to the same people or nation”), a semantic loan from Hebrew ????, morphologically from g?ns (“clan; tribe; people, family”) + adjective suffix -?lis (“-ile”). Doublet of gentle and genteel. See also gens, gender, genus, and generation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d???nta?l/
• Rhymes: -a?l
• Hyphenation: gen?tile

Adjective

gentile (not comparable)

1. Non-Jewish.
2. Heathen, pagan.
3. Relating to a clan, tribe, or nation; clannish, tribal, national.
4. Of or pertaining to a gens or several gentes.
5. (grammar) Of a part of speech such as an adjective, noun or verb: relating to a particular city, nation or country.

Derived terms

• gentilic
• gentilical
• gentilically
• gentilicism

Related terms

• genteel

Translations

Noun

gentile (plural gentiles)

1. A non-Jewish person.
2. (grammar) A noun derived from a proper noun which denotes something belonging to or coming from a particular city, nation, or country.

Hypernyms

• (grammar): noun

Translations

See also

• (grammar): patronymic

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??en?ti.le/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin gent?lis.

Adjective

gentile (plural gentili)

1. kind, courteous
2. gentle
3. lovely

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• gentile¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Etymology 2

From Latin gent?lis (“heathen, pagan”).

Noun

gentile m (plural gentili)

1. gentile (a non-Jewish person)

Derived terms

• gentilesco
• gentilesimo

Related terms

• gentilità

Adjective

gentile (plural gentili)

1. (literary) gentile (non-Jewish)

Further reading

• gentile² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?en?ti?.le/, [??n??t?i????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /d??en?ti.le/, [d???n??t?i?l?]

Adjective

gent?le

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of gent?lis

References

• gentile in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)

Swedish

Adjective

gentile

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of gentil.