Meanings
plural heresies · alternative hæresy
- countableuncountablelifestyleA doctrine held by a member of a religion at variance or conflict with established religious beliefs.
Heresy meant deliberate departure from the accepted doctrines of the church. It was intellectual and spiritual dissent and concerned the beliefs of Christianity, not the morals of its adherents.
1968, History of Western Civilization, edited by Heyes, Baldwin & Cole, p.47. Macmillan. Library of Congress 67–13596 - broadlycountableuncountableA controversial or unorthodox opinion held by a member of a group, as in politics, philosophy or science.
1 more example
I'm going to declare a heresy for you. All science, if you go back into its roots, saying: 'Why do I believe this?' 'Well, I believe this because of these tests and this proof.' 'Well, why do I believe this?' 'Why did I set up this test?' 'Why did I believe that proof?' All science goes back to something that we believe because we believe it. We believe it because we believe it, and we have no proof for it. It's like a religion.
1985 April 17, Frank Herbert, 15:58 from the start, in Frank Herbert speaking at UCLA 4/17/1985, UCLACommStudies, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2017
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA doctrine held by a member of a religion at variance or conflict with established religious beliefs.
More synonyms by meaning
nounany opinions or doctrines at variance with the official or orthodox position
nouna belief that rejects the orthodox tenets of a religion
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ser-
- Ancient Greekαἵρεσις“choice, system of principles”
- Latinhaeresis
- Old Frenchheresie
- Middle Englishheresie
- Englishheresy
From Middle English heresie (Middle English her(esie) + -esy), from Old French heresie (modern hérésie), from Latin haeresis, from Ancient Greek αἵρεσις (haíresis, “choice, system of principles”), from αἱρέομαι (hairéomai, “to take for oneself, to choose”), the middle voice of αἱρέω (hairéō, “to take”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ser-; see also Welsh herw (“theft, raid”), Ancient Greek στερέω (steréō, “to deprive of”). Displaced native Old English dwild.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans kettery, dwaalleer
- ketterydissension from religious dogma
- dwaalleerdissension from religious dogma
- dwaalleredissension from religious dogma
Arabic هَرْطَقَة, بِدْعَة
- هَرْطَقَة (harṭaqa)dissension from religious dogma
- بِدْعَة (bidʕa)dissension from religious dogma
Bengali বৈধর্ম্য
- বৈধর্ম্য (bōidhormmo)dissension from religious dogma
Bulgarian е́рес
- е́рес (éres)dissension from religious dogma
Catalan heretgia, heretgia
- heretgiadissension from religious dogma
- heretgiaa controversial opinion
Chinese Mandarin 異端 /异端, 邪說 /邪说
- 異端 /异端 (yìduān)dissension from religious dogma
- 邪說 /邪说 (xiéshuō)dissension from religious dogma
- 異教 /异教 (yìjiào)dissension from religious dogma
- 邪教 (xiéjiào)dissension from religious dogma
Czech kacířství, hereze
- kacířstvídissension from religious dogma
- herezedissension from religious dogma
- kacířstvía controversial opinion
Danish kætteri, kætteri
- kætteridissension from religious dogma
- kætteria controversial opinion
Dutch dwaalleer, ketterij
- dwaalleerdissension from religious dogma
- ketterijdissension from religious dogma
- ketterija controversial opinion
Esperanto herezo, herezo
- herezodissension from religious dogma
- herezoa controversial opinion
Estonian ketserlus
- ketserlusdissension from religious dogma
Finnish harhaoppi, vääräoppisuus
- harhaoppidissension from religious dogma
- vääräoppisuusdissension from religious dogma
- vääräuskoisuusdissension from religious dogma
- kerettiläisyysdissension from religious dogma
- harhaoppia controversial opinion
- kerettiläisyysa controversial opinion
French hérésie, hérésie
- hérésiedissension from religious dogma
- hérésiea controversial opinion
German Häresie, Ketzerei
- Häresiedissension from religious dogma
- Ketzereidissension from religious dogma
Greek αίρεση, αίρεση
- αίρεση (aíresi)dissension from religious dogma
- αίρεση (aíresi)a controversial opinion
Hebrew כְּפִירָה, מִינוּת
- כְּפִירָה (kfirá)dissension from religious dogma
- מִינוּת (minút)dissension from religious dogma
Hindi अपधर्म, पाषंड
- अपधर्म (apdharm)dissension from religious dogma
- पाषंड (pāṣaṇḍ)dissension from religious dogma
- पाखंड (pākhaṇḍ)dissension from religious dogma
Hungarian eretnekség
- eretnekségdissension from religious dogma
Icelandic villutrú
- villutrúdissension from religious dogma
Indonesian bidat, aliran sesat
- bidatdissension from religious dogma
- aliran sesatdissension from religious dogma
Irish eiriceacht
- eiriceachtdissension from religious dogma
Italian eresia
- eresiadissension from religious dogma
Japanese 異端, 邪教
- 異端 (itan)dissension from religious dogma
- 邪教 (jakyō)dissension from religious dogma
- 邪宗 (jashū)dissension from religious dogma
- 異端 (itan)a controversial opinion
Korean 이단, 사교
- 이단 (idan)dissension from religious dogma
- 사교 (sagyo)dissension from religious dogma
- 사종 (sajong)dissension from religious dogma
- 이단 (idan)a controversial opinion
Latin haeresis
- haeresisdissension from religious dogma
Latvian ķecerība
- ķecerībadissension from religious dogma
Lithuanian erezija
- erezijadissension from religious dogma
Malay bid'ah
- bid'ahdissension from religious dogma
Māori heretikitanga
- heretikitangadissension from religious dogma
Norwegian Bokmål kjetteri, heresi
- kjetteridissension from religious dogma
- heresidissension from religious dogma
- kjetteria controversial opinion
- vranglærea controversial opinion
Norwegian Nynorsk kjettarskap, heresi
- kjettarskapdissension from religious dogma
- heresidissension from religious dogma
Polish herezja, kacerstwo
- herezjadissension from religious dogma
- kacerstwodissension from religious dogma
- bogoburstwodissension from religious dogma
- herezjaa controversial opinion
Portuguese heresia, heresia
- heresiadissension from religious dogma
- heresiaa controversial opinion
Romanian erezie
- ereziedissension from religious dogma
Russian е́ресь, е́ресь
- е́ресь (jéresʹ)dissension from religious dogma
- е́ресь (jéresʹ)a controversial opinion
Slovak heréza, kacírstvo
- herézadissension from religious dogma
- kacírstvodissension from religious dogma
Spanish herejía
- herejíadissension from religious dogma
Swedish kätteri, kätteri
- kätteridissension from religious dogma
- kätteria controversial opinion
- irrläraa controversial opinion
Tagalog erehiya
- erehiyadissension from religious dogma
Thai มิจฉาทิฐิ
- มิจฉาทิฐิ (mít-chǎa-tít-tì)dissension from religious dogma
Turkish dalalet, sapkınlık
- dalaletdissension from religious dogma
- sapkınlıkdissension from religious dogma
- sapkınlıka controversial opinion
Ukrainian є́ресь, є́ресь
- є́ресь (jéresʹ)dissension from religious dogma
- є́ресь (jéresʹ)a controversial opinion
Urdu بِدْعَت
- بِدْعَت (bid'at)dissension from religious dogma
Vietnamese dị giáo, tà giáo
- dị giáodissension from religious dogma
- tà giáodissension from religious dogma
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
heresy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heresy
“heresy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heresy. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heresy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heresy.
Source: heresy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.