religion

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman religiun, from Old French religion, from Latin religiō (“scrupulousness, pious misgivings, superstition, conscientiousness, sanctity, an object of veneration, cult-observance, reverence”). Most likely from the Indo-European root h₂leg with the meanings preserved in Latin "dīligěre" and "lěgěre", i.e. to read repeatedly or to have something solely in mind.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlɪdʒən/

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• Rhymes: -ɪdʒən

Noun

religion (countable and uncountable, plural religions)

1. (uncountable) The belief in and worship of a supernatural controlling power, especially a personal god or gods.

   My brother tends to value religion, but my sister not as much.

2. (countable) A particular system of faith and worship.
   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture 2:

     Most books on the philosophy of religion try to begin with a precise definition of what its essence consists of. ... I shall not be pedantic enough to enumerate any of them to you now. Meanwhile the very fact that they are so many and so different from one another is enough to prove that the word “religion” cannot stand for any single principle or essence, but is rather a collective name.

   Islam is a major religion in parts of Asia and Africa.

   Eckankar is a new religion but Zoroastrianism is an old religion.

3. (uncountable) The way of life committed to by monks and nuns.

   The monk entered religion when he was 20 years of age.

4. (countable) Any practice to which someone or some group is seriously devoted.

   At this point, Star Trek has really become a religion.

5. (uncountable, obsolete) Faithfulness to a given principle; conscientiousness. [16th-17th c.]
   • 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes, […], printed at London: […] Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
     , II.8:

     Oh with what religion doe I respect and observe the same!

Verb

religion (third-person singular simple present religions, present participle religioning, simple past and past participle religioned)

1. Engage in religious practice.
   • 1978, Military Chaplains' Review, page 70:

     On the scales below, circle the one ( + ) or (-) number which best represents your situation on both the belief and practice dimensions for each of the traditional and nontraditional forms of religioning.

   • 2013, Monica R. Miller, Religion and Hip Hop, →ISBN, page 74:

     A similar caution is made by Nye when he calls for a re-evaluation of the category of religion in relationship to theory and method, suggesting that this category: be reconstructed in terms of practice theory as religious practice or religioning.

   • 2015, Alexander Horstmann & ‎Jin-Heon Jung, Building Noah’s Ark for Migrants, Refugees, and Religious Communities, →ISBN, page 13:

     Religious practice and action (“religioning”) can be liberating, and can connect displaced people with the spirits of home.

2. Indoctrinate into a specific religion.
   • 1890, John R. Kelso, Deity analyzed: In six lectures - Page 37

     To men whose minds are thus religioned, tied back to gods that never advance, there can never be any such word as progress

   • 2007, Janette Oke, A Bride for Donnigan, →ISBN, page 225:

     “What do you do, Donnigan? Spend all yer time religioning yer young?”

3. To make sacred or symbolic; sanctify.
   • 1994, Timothy Morton, Shelley and the Revolution in Taste, →ISBN, page 238:

     The discussion of diet and health raises the question of the importance of discussing vegetarianism in relation to the contemporary religioning of health; as Ross remarks, 'health has replaced sexuality as the new privileged discourse of bodily truth and inner essence'.

   • 2011, Andrew O'Shea, Pedagogy, Oppression and Transformation in a 'Post-Critical' Climate, p 116

     The ideas expressed above challenge us to continuously rupture and interrupt racialized, classed, gendered, religioned and sexualized norms that inhere between and within institutions, understandings of bodies and our Selves.

   • 2013, Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip & Stephen Hunt, The Ashgate Research Companion to Contemporary Religion and Sexuality, →ISBN:

     If queer Jews, Muslims and Christians are engaged in queering their religions, they are also engaged in what might becalled 'religioning' the queer.

See also

Further reading

• religion in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• religion in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

• ligroine, reoiling

Noun

religion

1. religion

Noun

religion

1. accusative singular of religio

Etymology

From Middle French religion, from Old French religion, borrowed from Latin religio, religionem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.li.ʒjɔ̃/

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• Hyphenation: re‧li‧gion

Noun

religion f (plural religions)

1. religion

See also

• religieux
• religieuse
• religiosité

Further reading

• “religion” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Noun

religion (plural religiones)

1. religion (system of belief, customs, etc.)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin religio, religionem.

Noun

religion m (plural [please provide])

1. religion

Etymology

From Old French religion.

Noun

religion f (plural religions)

1. religion

Noun

religion m (definite singular religionen, indefinite plural religioner, definite plural religionene)

1. a religion

Noun

religion m (definite singular religionen, indefinite plural religionar, definite plural religionane)

1. a religion

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin religio, religionem.

Noun

religion f (oblique plural religions, nominative singular religion, nominative plural religions)

1. religion

Noun

religion

1. religion

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɛlɪˈjuːn/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

religion c

1. religion

See also

• ateism
• gud
• konventikel
• kyrklig
• monoteism
• relegera
• religare
• religio
• teologi
• tro