creatio ex nihilon.
/kreɪˈɑːtɪəʊ ɛks ˈniːᵻləʊ/, /krɪˈeɪʃɪəʊ ɛks ˈnʌɪᵻləʊ/, U.S. /kreɪˈɑdioʊ ɛks ˈni(h)əloʊ/, /kriˈɛɪʃ(i)oʊ ɛks ˈnaɪ(h)əloʊ/ Originally and chiefly Theology.
The doctrine that only an act of the Creator was needed to bring into existence the natural universe. Also in extended use: creation from nothing. Cf. ex nihilo adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [noun] > creation of the world
cosmogony1766
creatio ex nihilo1825
special creation1834
1825 J. B. Sumner Treat. Rec. Creation (ed. 3) I. iii. 258 (note) The account of the creation given by Moses is spoken of as new, and with particular mention of the Creatio ex Nihilo.
1884 Old Test. Student 4 147 It may be admitted that, etymologically, in its primary, radical idea, bārā' does not denote creatio ex nihilo.
1930 Classical Rev. 26 40 These are not the most notable of Virgil's inventions, but they indicate that his inventiveness..was no creatio ex nihilo.
1951 P. Tillich Systematic Theol. I. 209 Christianity has rejected the concept of mē-ontic matter on the basis of the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo.
1991 A. Unterman Dict. Jewish Lore & Legend 57/1 The doctrine of creatio ex nihilo is accepted as the traditional interpretation of the Genesis story.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 23 June d2/4 In the Vatican Observatory's annual report..is a section delineating the difference between creatio ex nihilo..and creatio continua.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1825