onolatry

O1N1O1L1A1T1R1Y4

noun

Worship of the ass or donkey.

Scrabble 11

Meanings

nounonolatry (usually uncountable, plural onolatries)

plural onolatries

  1. uncountableusuallyWorship of the ass or donkey.

    The calumny of onolatry, or ass-worship, attributed by Tacitus and other writers to the Jews, was afterwards, by the hatred of the latter, transferred to the Christians.

    1913, Charles George Herbermann, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Press, page 793
  2. uncountableusuallyPreoccupation with or devotion to something foolish.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekὀνολᾰτρείᾱ
  2. Latinonolatrīa
  3. Englishonolatry

Borrowed from Latin onolatrīa, from the Ancient Greek ὀνολᾰτρείᾱ (onolătreíā), from ὄνος (ónos, “ass”) + λᾰτρείᾱ (lătreíā, “worship”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

onolatry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/onolatry

MLA

“onolatry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/onolatry. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “onolatry,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/onolatry.

Source: onolatry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.