# pagan

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈpeɪɡən/ · frequency rank #13,780

## Definitions
1. Relating to, characteristic of religions that differ from main world religions.
2. Savage, immoral, uncivilized, wild.

## Etymology
From Middle English pagan (adjective and noun), from Latin pāgānus (“rural, rustic; civilian”), replaced Middle English payen from the same root.
The meaning “not Christian” arose in Vulgar Latin, probably from the 4th century, owing to the Roman countryside being largely non-Christian, or potentially from the “civilian” meaning—denoting those not in the “army of Christ”. As a self-designation of neopagans, attested since 1990.
Partly displaced native heathen, from Old English hǣþen.

## Easily confused with
- **Pan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-pan)
- **PGA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-pga)
- **plan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-plan)
- **page** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-page)
- **pain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-pain)
- **papa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-papa)
- **pawn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-pawn)
- **pala** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-pala)
- **Phan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-phan)
- **pages** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-pages)
- **papal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-papal)
- **pecan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-pecan)
- **Paton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-paton)
- **Paget** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-paget)
- **Palau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-palau)
- **Paras** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-paras)
- **pager** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-pager)
- **pagans** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-pagans)
- **paging** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-paging)
- **pageant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pagan-vs-pageant)

## Common misspellings (7)
`apgan`, `paagn`, `pagann`, `paggan`, `pagna`, `pgaan`, `ppagan`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pagan