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Webster 1913 Edition

Pagan

Pa′gan

(pā′gan)
,
Noun.
[L.
paganus
a countryman, peasant, villager, a pagan, fr.
paganus
of or pertaining to the country, rustic, also, pagan, fr.
pagus
a district, canton, the country, perh. orig., a district with fixed boundaries: cf.
pangere
to fasten. Cf.
Painim
,
Peasant
, and
Pact
, also
Heathen
.]
One who worships false gods; an idolater; a heathen; one who is neither a Christian, a Mohammedan, nor a Jew.
Neither having the accent of Christians, nor the gait of Christian,
pagan
, nor man.
Shakespeare
Syn. – Gentile; heathen; idolater.
–
Pagan
,
Gentile
,
Heathen
. Gentile was applied to the other nations of the earth as distinguished from the Jews. Pagan was the name given to idolaters in the early Christian church, because the villagers, being most remote from the centers of instruction, remained for a long time unconverted. Heathen has the same origin. Pagan is now more properly applied to rude and uncivilized idolaters, while heathen embraces all who practice idolatry.

Pa′gan

,
Adj.
[L.
paganus
of or pertaining to the country, pagan. See
Pagan
,
Noun.
]
Of or pertaining to pagans; relating to the worship or the worshipers of false goods; heathen; idolatrous,
as,
pagan
tribes or superstitions
.
And all the rites of
pagan
honor paid.
Dryden.

Webster 1828 Edition

Pagan

PA'GAN

,
Noun.
[L. paganus, a peasant or countryman, from pagus, a village.] A heathen; a Gentile; an idolater; one who worships false gods. This word was originally applied to the inhabitants of the country, who on the first propagation of the christian religion adhered to the worship of false gods, or refused to receive christianity, after it had been received by the inhabitants of the cities. In like manner, heather signifies an inhabitant of the heath or woods, and caffer, in Arabic, signifies the inhabitant of a hut or cottage, and one that does not receive the religion of Mohammed. Pagan is used to distinguish one from a Christian and a Mohammedan.

PA'GAN

,
Adj.
Heathen; heathenish; Gentile; noting a person who worships false gods.
1.
Pertaining to the worship of false gods.

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