heathenism
noun
heathenism is spelled H-E-A-T-H-E-N-I-S-M: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 180,281st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, heathenism means “The state of being, or behavior and thought, of heathens” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of heathenism is heathenisms.
How many letters and syllables are in heathenism?
| Letters | 10: H-E-A-T-H-E-N-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 35 million words; the 180,281st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is heathenism?
Heathenism appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 180,281st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Forms of heathenism
- heathenisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does heathenism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state of being, or behavior and thought, of heathens.
Near-synonym: paganism
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does heathenism come from?
From heathen + -ism, coined in the 17th century in place of the then-obsolete heathendom. First attested in Francis Bacon's Of the advancement of learning (1605), II. xiv. §9: "The heresy of the Anthropomorphites … and the opinion of Epicurus, answerable to the same in heathenism, who supposed the gods to be in human shape" (OED).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).