religion
/rɪˈlɪdʒ(ə)n
/noun [mass noun]
1The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods: ideas about the relationship between science and religion...
- The freedom to manifest religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching encompasses a broad range of acts.
- The secularization debate is primarily concerned with the role or power of religion and churches in society.
- Bonaparte, however, had never made the mistake of underestimating either the power of religion or the resilience of the Church.
Synonyms
faith, belief, divinity, worship, creed, teaching, doctrine, theology;
sect, cult, religious group, faith community, church, denomination, body, following, persuasion, affiliation
1.1 [count noun] A particular system of faith and worship: the world’s great religions...
- No organized religion preaches murder and hatred of innocent people.
- The official state religion is Roman Catholicism, but Evangelical Protestant movements are making converts among traditional Catholic believers.
- Christianity is the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
1.2 [count noun] A pursuit or interest followed with great devotion: consumerism is the new religion...
- It's the backdrop because football is considered a religion worldwide and the most viewed game.
- We've been told time and again that cricket is a religion in India.
- In this city where rugby is a religion, there is the feeling that Moses has led them to the mountaintop.
Phrases
get religion
Derivatives
religionless
- But it was a religionless reading, and later he realized that the prophets cannot be understood apart from God.
- When he says a religionless Christianity, he means what he in another context calls ‘this worldly Christianity’.
- He championed a religionless kind of secular Christianity which he exemplified by his own life and his death in a concentration camp.
Origin
Middle English (originally in the sense 'life under monastic vows'): from Old French, or from Latin religio(n-) 'obligation, bond, reverence', perhaps based on Latin religare 'to bind'.