Etymology

heathen

H4E1A1T1H4E1N1

Today it means: Not adhering to an Abrahamic religion; pagan. Full definition →

Middle English hethen ← Old English hǣþen ← Proto-West Germanic *haiþin
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heathen · adjective, noun1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*haiþīnaz“heathen, pagan”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*haiþin
  3. Old English · inherited fromhǣþen
  4. Middle English · inherited fromhethen
  5. English todayheathen

From Middle English hethen, from Old English hǣþen, from Proto-West Germanic *haiþin, from Proto-Germanic *haiþīnaz (“heathen, pagan”, adjective), equivalent to heath (“heathland”) + -en. Cognate with West Frisian heiden, Dutch heiden, Middle High German heiden, German Heiden, German Heide, Swedish heden, Danish hedensk (from heden + -sk), Icelandic heiðinn. See also Proto-Germanic *haiduz, Old Norse heiðr (honour, bright, moor), Icelandic heiður (honour).

Heathen · adjective, noun2

From heathen.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.