Definition of Heretic

1. Noun. A person who holds religious beliefs in conflict with the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church.

Exact synonyms: Misbeliever, Religious Outcast
Generic synonyms: Castaway, Ishmael, Outcast, Pariah
Derivative terms: Misbelieve

2. Noun. A person who holds unorthodox opinions in any field (not merely religion).
Generic synonyms: Nonconformist, Recusant

Definition of Heretic

1. n. One who holds to a heresy; one who believes some doctrine contrary to the established faith or prevailing religion.

Definition of Heretic

1. Noun. Someone who in the opinion of others believes contrary to the fundamental tenets of a religion he claims to belong to. ¹

2. Adjective. (archaic) Heretical; of or pertaining to heresy or heretics. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Heretic

1. one that upholds heresy [n -S]

Medical Definition of Heretic

1. 1. One who holds to a heresy; one who believes some doctrine contrary to the established faith or prevailing religion. "A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject." (Titus III. 10) 2. One who having made a profession of Christian belief, deliberately and pertinaciously refuses to believe one or more of the articles of faith "determined by the authority of the universal church." Synonym: Heretic, Schismatic, Sectarian. A heretic is one whose errors are doctrinal, and usually of a malignant character, tending to subvert the true faith. A schismatic is one who creates a schism, or division in the church, on points of faith, discipline, practice, etc, usually for the sake of personal aggrandizement. A sectarian is one who originates or is an ardent adherent and advocate of a sect, or distinct organization, which separates from the main body of believers. Origin: L. Haereticus, Gr. Able to choose, heretical, fr. To take, choose: cf. F. Heretique. See Heresy. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Heretic

heres
heresiarch
heresiarchies
heresiarchs
heresiarchy
heresies
heresiographer
heresiographers
heresiographies
heresiography
heresiologist
heresiologists
heresiology
heresthetic
heresy
heretic (current term)
heretical
heretically
hereticaster
hereticasters
hereticate
hereticated
hereticates
hereticating
heretick
heretics
heretike
heretikes
hereto
heretofore

Literary usage of Heretic

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. New Englander and Yale Review by Edward Royall Tyler, William Lathrop Kingsley, George Park Fisher, Timothy Dwight (1864)
"ARTICLE V.—WHAT MAKES A heretic ? A heretic having been taken for all that is odious, vile, and heathenish, and deemed worthy of excommunication, exile, ..."

2. The Critical Review, Or, Annals of Literature by Tobias George Smollett (1771)
"... included in the character of the heretic. He therefore infers, that ' whatever error in the faith is the offspring of wicked lufts and carnal ..."

3. Publications (1848)
"... but a little leaven which will leaven the whole lump; and therefore this heretic, or obstinate person in these vain and unprofitable questions, ..."

4. The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to ...by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, Arthur Cleveland Coxe by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, Arthur Cleveland Coxe (1886)
"Let not the abrupt madness of that perfidious heretic move or disturb us however, beloved brethren, who, although he is placed in such great guilt of ..."

5. The Book of the Church by Robert Southey (1824)
"He was then pronounced to be judicially and lawfully convicted as an heretic, and as an heretic to be punished; and being moreover a relapsed heretic, ..."

6. A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities: Being a Continuation of the by Samuel Cheetham (1880)
"a prayer on the release, ie the reconciliation of a temple polluted by a heretic or by heathen, to be said before the vestibule of the church. ..."

7. A History of Crime in England: Illustrating the Changes of the Laws in the by Luke Owen Pike (1873)
"It is still more difficult to find an instance of a relapsed heretic, to whom the stake was considered specially appropriate. Nor would it be profitable to ..."

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