Meanings
plural docetisms · alternative Docetism
- countableuncountableChristianityThe belief that Jesus was fully divine and only appeared or pretended to be human and to suffer.
His Passion and Resurrection in history were therefore not fleshly events, even if they seemed so; they were heavenly play-acting (the doctrine known as Docetism, from the Greek verb dokein, ‘to seem’).
2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 124
Origin
- Ancient Greekδοκεῖν“to seem, to appear”
- Koine GreekΔοκηταί
- Late LatinDocetae
- Englishdocetism
From Docetae + -ism, from Late Latin Docetae, from Koine Greek Δοκηταί (Dokētaí) coined 197–203 CE by Serapion of Antioch, from Ancient Greek δοκεῖν (dokeîn, “to seem, to appear”). Related to latter component of synecdoche.
More words from Late Latin, Koine Greek, Ancient Greek
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Cite this entry
docetism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/docetism
“docetism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/docetism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “docetism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/docetism.
Source: docetism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.