religiousadj.n.
/rᵻˈlɪdʒəs/, U.S. /rəˈlɪdʒəs/, /riˈlɪdʒəs/ A. adj.
1.
a. Of a person or group of people: bound by vows of religion; belonging to a monastic order, esp. in the Roman Catholic Church.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > vow > [adjective] > bound by a vow
religiousa1225
vowed1532
votary1553
votal1606
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 3 (MED) Ðes awerȝede gast, hie makeð ðane religiuse man, ðe alle woreld-þing for godes luue hafð forlaten, sari and drieri and heui on godes workes.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 241 (MED) Man religious ne ssel noþing oȝen habbe ine erþe.
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 7382 (MED) Þe fourþe synne ys more perylous with man and womman relygyus.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Ellesmere) (1877) §891 Yet been ther mo speces of this cursed synne, as whan that oon of hem is religious.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 6149 Religiouse folk ben full couert Seculer folk ben more appert.
a1513 W. Dunbar Ballat Abbot of Tungland in Poems (1998) I. 56 A religious man he slew And cled him in his abeit new.
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Ii Howe ydle a companye ys theyr of prystes, and relygyous men, as they call them?
1599 R. Hakluyt tr. Odoric of Pordenone in Princ. Navigations (new ed.) II. i. 59 The said city is as big as two of Bononia, & in it are many monasteries of religious persons, al which do worship idols.
1633 T. Stafford Pacata Hibernia i. v. 41 With a competent number of three thousand Souldiers Pioners, and religious persons.
1681 J. Dryden Spanish Fryar ii. iii. 21 There's a huge fat religious Gentleman coming up, Sir.
1756 A. Butler Lives Saints I. 234 The superintendency of all the houses of religious women in his kingdom.
1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting I. iii. 51 As the frock of no religious order ever was green, this cannot be meant for a friar.
1810 R. Southey Curse of Kehama vii. 59 Never yet did form more beautiful..Bless the religious Virgin's gifted sight.
1884 W. E. Addis & T. Arnold Catholic Dict. (ed. 3) 391/1 The religious men and women generally follow the rule of St. Basil.
1904 A. B. C. Dunbar Dict. Saintly Women I. 391/1 Not being able to find in England (where there were at that time scarcely any nunneries) a religious woman fit to model this new establishment.
1950 Walla Walla (Washington) Union-Bull. 24 Sept. 3/1 Only four religious orders will be permitted to function [in Hungary]—the Franciscans, Dominicans, Piarists and an order of nuns.
2005 S. Cassedy Dostoevsky's Relig. iv. 87 At the monastery there resided a religious man whom Dostoevsky was eager to engage in conversation.
b. Of a thing, a place, etc.: belonging to or connected with a monastic order; monastic. See also religious house n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > [adjective] > relating to an order
religious?a1400
regular1440
monking1537
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 80 (MED) Whan þei to Durham com..þer þei bigan a home of religiouse manere.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 1035 Sir Percivale yelded hym to an ermytayge oute of the cite, and toke religious clothyng.
1582 N. Lichefield tr. F. L. de Castanheda 1st Bk. Hist. Discouerie E. Indias lxxiii. 151 (note) An hermitage, or such lyke pore kind of solitary religious place.
1674 A. Wood Life & Times (1892) II. 301 Those religious places that are neare Oxford.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 164. ¶4 A shaved Head, and a religious Habit.
1856 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. II. x. 438 The religious system, in its technical sense, he believed to have become a nursery of idleness.
1888 ‘Bernard’ From World to Cloister i. 5 I believe..that the religious life is one..instituted by God, that is substantially in its three vows.
1922 J. F. Leibell Anglo-Saxon Educ. Women vi. 84 On his way back to England,..he stopped in Lerins in 666, and took the religious habit.
1964 B. Millett Irish Franciscans i. iv. 68 It should be noted that in Munster there was another friary... This religious foundation, however, is mentioned in only ten chapter bills.
2005 R. Sullivan Visual Habits ii. 66 The Second Vatican Council dramatically reconfigured the religious life.
2.
a. Chiefly of a person: devoted to religion; exhibiting the spiritual or practical effects of religion, following the requirements of a religion; pious, godly, devout. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > religion > [adjective] > imbued with
religious?c1225
God-loving1628
serious1684
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 60 Ȝef ani weneð þet he beo religius & ne bridleð naut his tunge, his religiun is fals.
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 52 (MED) Þat þe sterres fellen bitokneþ hem þat semeden religious [Fr. religius] shullen haten þan þe riȝth bileue forto sauen her bodyes.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Deeds ii. 5 Ther weren in Jerusalem dwellinge Jewis, religiouse men [a1425 L.V. religiouse men, that is, deuout in the worching of God; L. viri religiosi], of ech nacioun that is vndir heuene.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 252 Þe arabes telleþ þat thus schal nouȝt be gadered..but of holy men and religious [L. sacris & religiosis].
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 6236 Full many a seynt in feeld and toune..Deuoute and full religious Han deied that comyn cloth ay beeren.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1869) II. 231 (MED) Thei were religious men [a1387 J. Trevisa tr. lyuede faire lyf; L. essent religiosi]..hauenge glorious vertues, as astrology and geometry.
1542 T. Becon Newe Pathway vnto Praier vii. sig. D.vj Who woulde not haue thought this holy religious father worthy to be canonysed?
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iii. 83 The Iewes religious Riuer Which euery Sabaoth dries his Channell ouer; Keeping his Waues from working on that Day.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) ii. ii. 127 Seeme they religious? Why so didst thou. View more context for this quotation
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 144 Earthly Selfe so scrues and mixes it selfe with religious, that oft-times the soule markes not the difference.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 622 That sober Race of Men, whose lives Religious titl'd them the Sons of God. View more context for this quotation
1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. i. iv. 96 I think I am religious enough in all Conscience.
1787 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 154 He is..very limited in his understanding, and religious, bordering on bigotry.
1841–8 F. Myers Catholic Thoughts II. iv. §23. 293 A man may be Moral without being Religious, but he cannot be Religious without being Moral.
1877 E. R. Conder Basis of Faith i. 13 The Apostle John and Benedict Spinoza were both intensely religious persons, but it would be difficult to say what their religious feelings had in common.
1902 R. Bagot Donna Diana vi. 65 Trust a religious old maid for scenting out love!
1942 G. M. Trevelyan Eng. Social Hist. xviii. 563 The popular heroes of the period..were religious men first and foremost..life was the service of God.
1983 M. Roberts Visitation ii. iii. 87 You're still religious, still believing all that mystifying rubbish about gods and souls and the after-life.
1991 A. Unterman Dict. Jewish Lore & Legend 29/1 In the State of Israel autopsies are an emotive issue and have led to clashes between religious Jews and government authorities.
b. most religious: used in addressing or referring to royalty. Cf. Christian adj. 1b. Now historical and rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > title > title or form of address for persons of rank > [adjective] > specific epithets for persons of rank > for royalty or other exalted personages
grandc1526
serenea1550
most religious1567
sacred1600
serenissimous1623
serenissime1624
super-illustrious1630
1567 T. Stapleton Counterblast ii. iii. f. 95v The Bishoppe..went vp to the most religious Emperor, complaining..of the iniurious dealing of the Lieutenant.
1662 Bk. Com. Prayer We humbly beseech thee..for the High Court of Parliament, under our most religious and Gracious King, at this time assembled.
1712 T. Barclay Let. 17 Dec. in F. J. Klingberg Anglican Humanitarianism in Colonial N.Y. (1971) i. ii. 63 Next he returned their humble thanks to the most religious Queen Anne.
1772 M. Towgood Answer to Enq. 49 What an insult..to be forced..to acknowledge and declare that most profligate and wicked prince to be indeed a most religious King!
1820 P. B. Shelley Œdipus Tyrannus i. 15 The chaste Pasiphae,..Wife to that most religious King of Crete.
1849 J. Smith Our Sc. Clergy 2nd Ser. iv. 49 ‘Our most religious Queen, Victoria’, had better be prayed for as any of her subjects, as it is rather too much to assume that all our kings and queens..are most religious.
1958 C. Hill Puritanism & Revol. ii. ix. 298 Our most religious King protected his old tutor from his enemies.
3.
a. Of, relating to, or concerned with religion.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > religion > [adjective]
religious?1504
religionary1635
parareligious1948
?1504 W. Atkinson tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) i. xix. sig. Bvv (heading) The good relygyus exercyse of a relygyus soule.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 26 Yf hys mynd were not ryghtly set, wyth relygyouse honowr..toward god.
1626 T. May tr. Lucan Pharsalia iii. sig. E3 A sad religious awe The quiet trees vnstirr'd by winde doe draw.
1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in Poems 43 Storied Windows richly dight, Casting a dimm religious light.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iv. xlv. 361 They made it for a Religious use.
1720 A. Pope Verses Addison's Medals in Wks. 6 Some felt..hostile fury, some, religious rage.
1788 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall V. l. 202 From his earliest youth, Mahomet was addicted to religious contemplation.
1809 M. Waring (title) A diary of the religious experience of Mary Waring.
1835 J. H. Newman Parochial Serm. (1837) I. xi. 163 Prayer is the most directly religious of all our duties.
1853 T. T. Lynch Lect. Self-improvem. iii. 72 Books least religious in letter and phrase may be most religious in effect.
1877 J. C. Geikie Life & Words Christ II. xlix. 287 Jerusalem was the religious centre of the nation.
1927 R. H. Wilenski Mod. Movement in Art 7 There is such a thing as religious art distinct from other forms of art.
1978 Listener 9 Mar. 296/3 Religious broadcasting is not a job for a good man.
2007 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 7 Jan. 27/1 Her religious beliefs forbade her from wearing the Baywatch-style bikinis of her white Australian counterparts.
b. Holy, sacred. Frequently poetic. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > [adjective]
hallowedc900
holyc1000
blessedc1200
blissfula1225
seelya1225
yblessed1297
sacred13..
saint1377
devoutc1380
divinec1380
consecratec1386
dedicatec1386
benedighta1400
happyc1405
sillya1450
sacrate?a1475
sanctificatec1485
sacrificed?1504
sacrea1535
religious1549
vowed1585
anointed1595
devote1597
devoted1597
consecrated1599
sacrosanct1601
sanctimonious1604
sanctified1607
dedicated1609
divined1624
sacrosanctious1629
reverend1631
celebrate1632
divinified1633
sacrosanctified1693
sanctimonial1721
sacramental1851
divinized1852
sacral1882
sanct1890
sanctifiable1894
sacramented1914
hierophanic1927
kramat1947
sacralized1979
1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 7th Serm. sig. Dd.iii The bloud if Hales was taken once for a religious relique.
1611 T. Coryate Crudities sig. H8 Pictures of Christ and the Virgin Mary, and many other religious persons.
1618 T. Gainsford True Hist. P. Warbeck 8 Euen the name of Mortimer and Yorke was sanctified and religious amongst them.
1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. B3 Bring Part of the creame from that Religious Spring.
1747 W. Collins Odes 28 Thy Shrine in some religious Wood.
c1820 S. Rogers Fire-fly in Italy 22 Those trees, religious once and always green.
1904 C. H. Monro tr. Justinian Digest I. i. viii. 41 Even an empty tomb is held on the whole to be a religious place.
4. † b. Of an oath, vow, or promise: solemn. Obsolete.
a. Scrupulous, exact, strict, conscientious. Also with †in, †of.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > agreement > observance > [adjective]
faithfulc1384
officiousc1487
heedful1548
heedy1548
religious1567
unhurting1581
rigid1602
observant1608
conscionable1620
strictc1660
solid1880
1567 J. Rastell Briefe Shew False Wares vii. f. 99 The Catholike Churche is so religious towardes Scripture, that as she hath receiued it, so she mainteineth and keepeth it still.
1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. D3v A man deuoted to a man, Loyall, religious, in loues hallowed vowes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. iv. 381 A Coward, a most deuout Coward, religious in it. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 220 Religious of his Word.
1711 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1889) III. 109 I must confess that I am so religious in that Affair [of editing], that I transcribe the very Faults.
1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. 154 His library is preserved with the most religious neatness.
1798 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1834) I. 5 On my part, you will always meet with a religious adherence to every article of the treaties subsisting between us.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xvi. 191 We were led to footsteps; and following these with religious care [etc.].
1866 Friends' Intelligencer 5 May 136/2 As a parent to whom was delegated the care of a large family of children, he..discharged his duties to them with religious assiduity.
1919 W. R. Thayer Theodore Roosevelt i. 11 He willed to be strong, and he went through his gymnastic exercises with religious precision.
1977 College Eng. 38 639 Most of us do not listen with religious attention to ‘the news’.
1995 P. Conroy Beach Music (1996) xxiv. 402 Esther had been religious about corresponding with everyone who was family.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > assertion or affirmation > [adjective] > relating to an oath > of an oath: solemn
deepOE
solemnc1315
solemned1567
religious1592
1592 A. Fraunce 3rd Pt. Countesse of Pembrokes Yuychurch f. 28 Iupiter and the other Gods were woont to sweare by the riuer Styx; which was accounted the most religious oath.
1638 T. Heywood Wise-woman of Hogsdon i. ii. sig. B Now as I am a true Maid, The most religious oath that I dare sweare, I hold my selfe indebted to your love.
1707 L. Echard Hist. Eng. i. i. 16 The Soldiers fir'd by this Speech, bound themselves by the most religious Vows, crying out, That neither Wounds nor Weapons should make them yield.
1723 R. Steele Conscious Lovers ii. i The Religious Vow I have made to my Father.
?1790 Perjured Lover 13 Beaumont..swore by the most religious oaths and imprecations, that not a moment should be lost after that time had passed away, before he would make her his wife.
5. Of a horse.† b. U.S. Well-behaved; not vicious. Obsolete. rare.
a. Prone to go down on the knees. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1788 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 2) Religious horse, one much given to prayer, or apt to be down upon his knees.
1815 M. Faraday Let. 3 Mar. in B. Jones Life & Lett. Faraday I. iii. 198 A tailor would have said that the horse was religious..; but..I would rather have had a beast that would have gone on orderly upon his legs.
1914 G. W. Kennedy Pioneer Campfire iv. 182 I was afraid to ride his horse to water for fear it would fall down and kill me. Brother, his horse was religious.
ΚΠ
1869 Overland Monthly Aug. 127/2 It is amusing to hear one ask of another, when about to purchase a horse: ‘Is he religious?’
B. n.
1. With plural agreement. People bound by monastic vows or devoted to a religious life, esp. in the Roman Catholic Church.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > [noun] > collectively
religious?c1225
conventc1290
collegec1380
religion1487
religioustyc1530
monkery1549
settlement1708
community1728
familia1869
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 9 Gode religiuse beoð summe In þe world Nomeliche Prelaz & treowe Preach[i]urs.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 243 (MED) Zuyche religious byeþ ine wel grat peril of hare uorlyezynge, uor hi ne habbeþ bote þe cloþinge of hare religion.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) 62 (MED) He slow þe Pope..Cardynals, Abbotes..monekys & frerys eke..Saue nunnes, sloȝ he sykerly, þe relygyous þat þar war.
c1450 (?c1400) Three Kings Cologne (Cambr. Ee.4.32) (1886) 142 (MED) Þei come fro ferre contreys with her bisshopes and preestys and oþir Religious.
1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton G ij b An abbot..sette and made his relygyous or monkes for to werke.
1546 Supplic. Poor Commons sig. a.v The Monkes, fryers, & other the supersticiouse religiouse.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 179 Ethodie..was brocht vpe amang the religious in the yle of man.
1612 T. Beard Theatre Gods Judgem. (ed. 2) 405 There grew so great quarrels and discontentments betweene the townesmen and the religious.
1674 A. Marvell Let. 5 Nov. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 332 You know the Religious were in that [conspiracy] too with Rohan against the K: of France.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 54 They have several sorts of Religious, among whom the Dervishes are the most familiar and polite.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 164. ¶11 The Letters..are yet extant in the Nunnery where she resided; and are often read to the young Religious.
1768 J. Boswell Acct. Corsica (ed. 2) ii. 88 They also brought with them some religious, of the order of St. Basil.
1813 J. C. Hobhouse Journey (ed. 2) App. 1123 Those Italian religious who were destined to the service of the mission.
1875 H. E. Manning Internal Mission of Holy Ghost xii. 339 Were these words..spoken to recluses, to men living in a desert, or to religious in cloisters?
1913 Southwestern Hist. Q. 16 164 Leiva had with him forty soldiers and four religious when he and Otermin met.
1986 Catholic Herald 13 June 1/3 A joint declaration of the nation's bishops and male religious.
1997 J. Bowker World Relig. 153/2 (caption) Women religious in the 20th century may wear ordinary clothes with a cross or brooch to signify their commitment.
2. A person bound by religious vows or devoted to a religious life, esp. in the Roman Catholic Church. [Some early examples may show a formally and semantically distinct noun denoting a nun, reflecting Middle French religieuse , but in many cases the analysis is uncertain. In Middle English three types of plurals exist: religious (i.e. unmarked), religioux , and religiouses . The religioux type are after corresponding French plural forms in -x . The religiouses type almost always refer either to male members of a religious order, or (as in quots. ?a1400, 1490) generically to men and women. Instances where the Middle English plural form in -es definitely reflects the plural of Anglo-Norman religiuse , Anglo-Norman and Middle French religiouse ‘nun’ are rare, the only certain example in the quots. below being quot. a1492 (where the plural in -es contrasts with the unmarked plural, denoting monks). There are no clear-cut instances of Middle English or early modern English singulars in -e reflecting the French feminine noun; in quot. 1512, the form religiouse denotes a woman, and could be taken as reflecting the Middle French feminine noun, but its final -e may equally well be otiose; compare generic use of this form in quot. a1425.]
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > [noun]
cloisterer1340
religious1340
closterera1400
ruler1399
regular1443
professorc1500
votary1543
conventual1611
religionary1622
conventer1671
conversant1671
conventualist1762
religioner1808
society > faith > church government > monasticism > nun > [noun]
nuneOE
sistereOE
minchenOE
nun-sisterOE
spousea1200
ladyc1275
religious1340
clergess1393
homely womana1400
monialc1400
moinesa1513
sanctimoniala1513
vowess1533
nosegent1567
votaress1589
votress1597
monkess1602
White Lady1606
cloistressa1616
sanctimony1630
religiosea1657
clergywoman1673
religieuse1682
religioso1708
vestal1717
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 240 (MED) Þe lostes of þe ulesse..þe guode religious ssel wyþdraȝe of his ulesse be uestinges, be wakiinges, be diciplines.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 136 (MED) To þo religiouses [Fr. religiouns] þat were in Gascoyne, He gaf a þousand mark.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 1888 (MED) Dede wil na frendshepe do ne favour..Ne til na religiouse, ne til na seculere.
?a1475 (a1396) W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (Harl. 6579) i. lxi. f. 42v (MED) Riȝt so schalt þou stonden in þi sort as an ankre and a religious in þe sort of a religion.
1490 Arte & Crafte to knowe well to Dye (Caxton) 10 These demaundes and questyons ought to be sayd as well to religyouses as to seculers.
a1492 W. Caxton tr. Vitas Patrum (1495) i. v. f. ix/2 There were x. M. men, & xx. M. virgynes in that cite religyous & religiouses.
1512 Helyas in W. J. Thoms Coll. Early Prose Romances (1828) III. 101 I wyll shortly go and yelde me a nune or religiouse in some nonery.
1577 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Chron. (1584) 175 You send him newes as a Chronicler,..and counsel his conscience as a religious.
1651 T. Matthew Life Lady L. Knatchbull (1931) ii. i. 87 Dame Mary Roper..was a much younger Religious.
1710 D. Manley Mem. Europe I. i. 58 She shou'd take the Veil and become a Religious.
1725 J. Collier Several Disc. 288 Theodoret..at the End of the Life of every famous Religious, desires the Benefit of their Prayers.
1793 W. Hodges Trav. India 112 A small district within a larger; it was at this time in the hand of a Gosine, or Hindoo Religious.
1813 J. C. Eustace Tour through Italy II. vi. 184 An Italian Religious, and a Mahometan dervise are..placed by many nearly upon a level.
1888 ‘Bernard’ From World to Cloister i. 2 The idea of your..adopting the hard life of a religious was one which never occurred to me.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xvii. [Ithaca] 673 Anal violation by male religious (fully clothed, eyes abject) of female religious (partly clothed, eyes direct).
1939 R. Godden Black Narcissus xxx. 273 You've forgotten who you are. You're a religious. A nun.
1972 B. Moore Catholics ii. 78 A man wearing the habit of a religious.
1986 D. Koontz Strangers ii. v. 364 Do you see any reason for an old unregenerate religious like me to hold out the hope that what is happening to Brendan is somehow divine in nature?
Compounds
C1.
religious-mad adj.
ΚΠ
1830 W. Irving Devil & Tom Walker 22 Nobody knew exactly what to make of Joel; whether he was..religious-mad, or honestly crack-brained in the way of nature.
a1930 D. H. Lawrence Apocalypse (1931) vi. 98 Men were religious-mad: not religious-sane.
2003 R. Le Gallienne tr. Poems from Divan of Hafiz 9 To the wilderness I'll flee, And live on roots, religious-mad, up in the lonely mountains.
religious-minded n. and adj.
ΚΠ
a1744 J. Fothergill Acct. Life & Trav. (1753) 185 The Lord God of Mercies..extended very largely and mercifully towards all People..in order to awaken and repair the Decaying, as also to feed and strengthen the few honestly religious-minded.
?1774 R. Sanders Lucubrations Gaffer Graybeard III. lix. 151 The assistance of a religious-minded lady.
1888 C. M. Yonge Beechcroft at Rockstone II. xx. 153 Thoroughly religious-minded,..his aspirations had been blighted by his father's death.
1932 E. A. Kirkpatrick Sci. of Man in Making xiii. 336 The religious minded are concerned with doing the Father's will.
2008 Internat. Herald Tribune (Nexis) 5 Aug. 6 An alarming message would have been sent to religious-minded voters throughout the Muslim world.
religious-mindedness n.
ΚΠ
1838 J. W. Semple tr. I. Kant Relig. within Boundary Pure Reason 264 For when the needy are relieved out of a truly virtuous and therefore religious mindedness, then might such eleemosynary arrangement not unfitly deserve the name of a mean of grace.
1903 H. C. Bowen Froebel 96 Religious-mindedness and religious-minded industry should be the fruit and flower of all education.
2003 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 3 July 36/1 The movement from religion to religious-mindedness, from Islam to Islamism.
religious-sane adj. rare
ΚΠ
a1930 D. H. Lawrence Apocalypse (1931) vi. 98 Men were religious-mad: not religious-sane.
C2.
religious education n. education in religious matters; (in later use also) religion taught as a school subject; abbreviated RE.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > study > subject or object of study > [noun] > specific subjects
modern languages1605
English1713
Celtic studies1781
religious studies1824
Eng. Lit.1834
polytechnics1850
business administration1852
Eng. Lang.1857
business studies1880
historiography1889
academic1898
peace studies1903
religious education1914
Asian studies1941
religious instruction1960
religious knowledge1961
black studies1968
media studies1968
gender studies1973
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 13 Children ought to be inured from their very infancie in one thing which is most holy and beseeming religious education, and that is, to speake the truth.
1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi iii. ii. xxvi. 149/1 The Regenerating and Verticordious Grace of Heaven, took advantage from his Religious Education..to steal into the Heart of this young Disciple.
1836 Introd. Discourse & Lect. Amer. Institute of Instruction 1835 105 The parent who neglects the religious education of his child might as well suffer him to wander filthy and ragged in the streets.
1914 G. B. Shaw Parents & Children in Misalliance p. c The last ray of art is being cut off from our schools by the discontinuance of religious education.
2005 Independent 1 Mar. 12/2 Ofsted..identified three subjects as the most likely to be disrupted by pupils aged 11 to 16: modern languages, religious education and citizenship.
religious house n. [after Middle French maison religieuse (1280 in Old French as meson relegieuse; French maison religieuse)] a house or building inhabited by a religious order; an abbey, monastery, convent, etc.; cf. house n.1 and int. Phrases 3a.
ΚΠ
a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 128 (MED) Religyose houses in mony a plase For goddys loue he let þo make.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 29 Settyng themsefe in relygyouse housys ther quyetly to serve god.
1664 J. Dryden Rival Ladies ii. i. 27 If you will needs to a Religious house.
1742 Ld. Chesterfield Lett. (1932) (modernized text) II. 512 He dissolved the monasteries and religious houses in England.
1856 P. Thompson Hist. & Antiq. Boston, Lincoln 115 (note) In religious houses they had a register..wherein they entered the obits or obitual days of their founders and benefactors.
1909 Encycl. Relig. & Ethics II. 77/2 Thus arose the practice of self-flagellation, first introduced in certain religious houses of Central Italy.
2008 Bolton News (Nexis) 4 Dec. The wine was currently used by a number of parishes and religious houses across the UK.
religious humanism n. any of various viewpoints which attempt to integrate humanistic values and religious belief.
ΚΠ
1850 Times 1 Oct. 4/6 Let the philosophical humanism join the religious humanism!
1934 Jrnl. Relig. 15 438 From the immanence of God in human life at its best, it was, of course, a short step to contemporary religious humanism with its emphasis upon man as the center of the religious world-view.
2006 R. de Costa Higher Authority ii. 59 Religious humanism, socialism and feminism are manifest very differently in contemporary Australia.
religious humanist n. a proponent or advocate of religious humanism.
ΚΠ
1883 C. Beard Reformation of 16th Cent. ii. 67 Erasmus belonged to the religious humanists, who hoped that the revival of good letters might end in the reformation of the Church.
1932 Mod. Lang. Jrnl. 16 477 It is not the purpose of this paper to prove that Galdós is a Religious Humanist.
2000 R. Ostrander Life of Prayer in World of Sci. viii. 165 As the religious humanists and scientific naturalists had been saying for decades, the pray-ers would have to answer their own prayers.
religious instruction n. instruction in religious matters; (in later use also) religion taught as a school subject (cf. religious education n.); abbreviated RI.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > study > subject or object of study > [noun] > specific subjects
modern languages1605
English1713
Celtic studies1781
religious studies1824
Eng. Lit.1834
polytechnics1850
business administration1852
Eng. Lang.1857
business studies1880
historiography1889
academic1898
peace studies1903
religious education1914
Asian studies1941
religious instruction1960
religious knowledge1961
black studies1968
media studies1968
gender studies1973
1605 E. Sandys Relation State of Relig. sig. H2v [Catholics] respect not much instruction of their children of the meaner sort as being likely to sway litle, whereas the Protestants seeme in religious instruction indifferent to both.
1740 A. Jephson Christian Sabbath Explained vi. 361 It is..incumbent upon all Masters of Families to take Care of the Religious Instruction and Spiritual Welfare of them.
1800 H. More Let. 11 Sept. (1925) 177 I knew that every Anti-Abolitionist in the world was..an enemy to religious instruction at home.
1960 Where? Winter 16/2 Religious instruction (RI), the only subject which state schools are obliged to teach by law.
2004 Guardian 21 Jan. ii. 11/3 My six godchildren have received no religious instruction from me.
religious knowledge n. knowledge about religious matters; (in later use also) religion taught as a school subject (cf. religious education n.); abbreviated RK.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > study > subject or object of study > [noun] > specific subjects
modern languages1605
English1713
Celtic studies1781
religious studies1824
Eng. Lit.1834
polytechnics1850
business administration1852
Eng. Lang.1857
business studies1880
historiography1889
academic1898
peace studies1903
religious education1914
Asian studies1941
religious instruction1960
religious knowledge1961
black studies1968
media studies1968
gender studies1973
a1602 W. Perkins Lect. Three First Chapters Reuelation (1604) Ep. Ded. sig. A3 He, whose religious knowledge surpasseth all the Princes that haue bene of this nation.
1702 J. Jeffery Felo de Se 31 Inform the Understanding, with Religious Knowledge; and Refine the Spirit, by Religious Practice.
1849 R. Moffat in Daily News 24 Feb. (1900) 6/1 They have a measure of religious knowledge culled from the Bible and their itinerant predikants.
1934 L. R. Farnell Oxonian looks Back ii. 25 The dreadful examination popularly called ‘Rudders’ (‘Rudiments of Religious Knowledge’—the worst type of early Victorian examination).
1961 Regulations G.C.E. Examinations (Univ. London) 22 Religious Knowledge Ordinary Level. There will be one paper of 2½ hours.
2000 A. Jeffner in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 641/1 The idea of an I/thou relationship as the basis both of religious knowledge and of a moral and spiritual life.
religious philosopher n. a student or advocate of religious philosophy.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > theology > systems of theology > [noun] > religious philosophy > person
religious philosopher1674
1674 W. Charleton Nat. Hist. Passions Ep. Pref. sig. bb3v Thus have the same Decrees been judiciously interpreted by the religious Philosophers of the Collegue of Conimbra.
1703 T. Tryon Knowl. of Man’s Self 118 The Wise Ancients and Religious Philosophers of all Ages have therefore forbid much Talking and recommended Silence.
1840 J. S. Mill in London & Westm. Rev. 33 297 Of Coleridge as a moral and religious philosopher..there is neither room, nor would it be expedient for us to speak more than generally.
1902 W. James Varieties Relig. Experience iv. 105 An interpretation of Christ's message which in these very Gifford lectures has been defended by some of your very ablest Scottish religious philosophers.
1993 A. Blunden tr. H. Ott Martin Heidegger i. 14 Heidegger had had no contact at all with the religious philosopher Guardini for many years.
religious philosophy n. the philosophical study of religion; a philosophy that accepts the concept of an omnipotent God.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > theology > systems of theology > [noun] > religious philosophy
philosophia prima1605
religious philosophy1632
prima philosophia1845
1632 H. Reynolds Mythomystes 56 Zoroaster..was (as the learned Farra auouches),..the first Author of that Religious Philosophy, or Philosophicall Religion.
1745 H. Winder Crit. & Chronol. Hist. Rise Knowl. I. 36 These celebrated Moderns, who were confin'd to so few Years, for all their Improvements in the religious Philosophy.
1840 J. S. Mill in London & Westm. Rev. 33 298 We must be looking for a religious philosophy, and our main hope ought to be that it will be such a one as fulfils the conditions of a philosophy—the very foremost of which is, unrestricted freedom of thought.
1912 R. B. Perry Pres. Philos. Tendencies vii. 148 The English school of idealists..has from the outset offered a religious philosophy based on the supremacy of consciousness.
2005 D. Rynhold Two Models Jewish Philos. ii. 52 Modern science must provide us with the methodological paradigm for religious philosophy.
religious police n. (originally) †the enforcement of religious laws; (subsequently) a police force whose task this is; (now chiefly) spec. (in certain Islamic countries) an organization or body appointed to enforce Islamic law; cf. mutawwa n.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > police force or the police > [noun] > police forces in specific countries or regions
holy brotherhooda1739
hermandad1772
religious police1775
state police1779
gendarmerie1792
police1798
Scotland Yard1830
guardia civil1846
RCMP1920
RUC1922
Arab Legion1923
Garda Síochána1923
Schupo1923
Mets1944
Vopo1954
maréchaussée1955
U.S.C.1963
Garda1970
1775 Thoughts upon Present Contest between Admin. & Brit. Colonies in Amer. 33 Bad religious police enervated their bodies.
a1817 J. L. Burckhardt Trav. Arabia (1829) II. 34 There is no religious police or inquisition here [sc. Arafat]; and every body is left to the dictates of his conscience.
1847 H. Melville Omoo xlvi. 178 These worthies constitute a religious police; and you always know them by the great white diapers they wear.
1978 in E. M. Broner Weave of Women vi. 63 ‘Cover your head!’ calls out a woman, a sleepy member of the Religious Police.
1988 J. L. Esposito Islam i. 33 Government regulations, Islamic laws, and the activities of religious police who monitor public behaviour have all been justified as expressions of this moral mission.
2003 National Geographic Oct. 27/2 The religious police who stalk the streets in search of ‘immodest’ women.
religious psychology n. (a branch of) psychology applied to aspects of religious belief and behaviour.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > social psychology > psychology in relation to morality > [noun] > in relation to religion
religious psychology1835
1835 tr. C. O. Müller Diss. Eumenides of Æschylus 142 These were the very acts which the religious psychology [Ger. dämonische Psychologie] of the ancient Greeks ascribed to the Ate.
1927 J. S. Huxley Relig. without Revelation iv. 120 Those who, through study or profession, are brought into contact with religious psychology.
2004 Jrnl. Early Republic 24 79 Watson's work informed a pioneer effort in religious psychology..published in 1828 by the New England Congregationalist minister, Grant Powers.
religious right n. (with the) a chiefly Protestant faction in the United States, holding strongly conservative social and political views and regarded as an active and influential political group.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > American politics > [noun] > other parties
Liberty Party1705
republican1782
republican1799
prohibition party1855
Greenback party1875
Christian Right1947
religious right1973
1973 N.Y. Times 14 Aug. 31/1 Building himself a powerful radio receiver and tuning in to Fundamentalist preachers... ‘The Preachers’ is an act of love by a gourmet of the religious right.
1994 Church Times 18 Nov. 2/3 Reactions suggest that the bite of the religious right may be getting to be as big as its bark.
2005 A. Wolfe Does Amer. Democracy still Work? v. 133 The religious right..had never given up trying to dismiss the theory of evolution.
religious society n. an association or organization formed for the purpose of worship or religious activity (now esp. in the local community); = society n. 11a.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious order > [noun]
order?c1225
religion?c1225
sectc1380
professiona1393
congregation1493
society1581
religious society1610
community1728
1610 J. Robinson Justif. Separation from Church of Eng. 439 The Church is a religious society.
1773 Encycl. Brit. III. 476/2 Philippines, a religious society of young women, at Rome.
1846 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Apr. 251/1 Any religious society may hold..so much land as may be necessary for a house and buildings for public worship—for a pastorage, and for a burying ground.
1979 Newsweek (Nexis) 15 Oct. 38 The eleven religious societies of the neighborhood had erected a platform for the statues of their patron saints.
2001 R. G. Castro Chicano Folklore 202 Processions, fiestas, blessings, home prayers, velorios (wakes), and religious societies were integrated into daily life.
Religious Society of Friends n. = Society of Friends n. at society n. 11a.
ΚΠ
1797 C. Phillips Memoirs ix. 303 A useful member of the community at large, as well as an honourable one of the religious society of Friends.
1805 W. Close West's Antiq. Furness (new ed.) Suppl. 402 George Fox, the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, was born at Drayton.
1939 Jrnl. Relig. 19 97 Crisp became the leading emissary between the Religious Society of Friends in England and in Holland.
2000 M. Reardon in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 732/2 The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) thought all credal formulae or permanent forms of government to be divisive.
religious studies n. the study of religion or religions as an academic discipline.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > study > subject or object of study > [noun] > specific subjects
modern languages1605
English1713
Celtic studies1781
religious studies1824
Eng. Lit.1834
polytechnics1850
business administration1852
Eng. Lang.1857
business studies1880
historiography1889
academic1898
peace studies1903
religious education1914
Asian studies1941
religious instruction1960
religious knowledge1961
black studies1968
media studies1968
gender studies1973
1824 A. Vieusseux Italy & Italians 19th Cent. (new ed.) II. vii. 245 Carli and Verri in political economy;..Beccaria in jurisprudence; Martini and Turchi in religious studies. All these..gave a new aspect to the Italian literature of the last century.
1949 H. A. R. Gibb Mohammedanism viii. 144 Every scholar who had perfected himself in some branch or other of religious studies became the centre of a group of students.
2001 Y. Martel Life of Pi (2002) i. 3 My majors were religious studies and zoology.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.a1225