Faith & RitualGreek → English
Heresy
/ˈhɛrəsi/noun
A belief that contradicts the official doctrine of a church.
The Greek roots
αἵρεσις
haíresis
choice, sect
Literally: “a choosing”
Follow a root:αἵρεσις2 words
The story of the word
In classical Greek αἵρεσις is neutral: a taking, then a choice, then a school of thought. Josephus calls the Pharisees and the Sadducees αἱρέσεις with no insult intended. The Christian sense puts the offence in the act of choosing itself, since the heretic selects his doctrine instead of receiving it, and English has the word in that sense by 1200.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- c. 1200
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
hereticheresiarchdiaeresis
In a sentence
Suggesting the meeting could be an email was treated as heresy.