Heathen
Heathen (hē"t'n; 277) , noun
[Old English hethen, Anglo-Saxon haeen, prop. an adj. from hae heath, and orig., therefore, one who lives in the country or on the heaths and in the woods (compare pagan, from pagus village); akin to Old Saxon hēein, adj., Dutch heiden a heathen, German heide, Old High German heidan, Icelandic heieinn, adj., Swedish heden, Gothic haiþnō, n. fem. See Heath, and compare Hoiden.]
1.
An individual of the pagan or unbelieving nations, or those which worship idols and do not acknowledge the true God; a pagan; an idolater.
2.
An irreligious person.
If it is no more than a moral discourse, he may preach it and they may hear it, and yet both continue unconverted heathens.
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance.
Collocations (1)
The heathen , as the term is used in the Scriptures, all people except the Jews; now used of all people except Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
Heathen (hē"t'n) , adjective
1.
Gentile; pagan; as, a heathen author.
The heathen philosopher.
All in gold, like heathen gods.
2.
Barbarous; unenlightened; heathenish.
3.
Irreligious; scoffing.