Pa"gan , a. [L. paganus of or pertaining to the country, pagan. See Pagan, n.]
Of or pertaining to pagans; relating to the worship or the worshipers of false goods; heathen; idolatrous, as, pagan tribes or
superstitions.
And all the rites of
pagan honor paid.
Dryden.
Pa"gan (pā"gan), n. [L. paganus a countryman, peasant, villager, a pagan, fr. paganus of or pertaining to the country, rustic, also, pagan, fr. pagus a district, canton, the country, perh. orig., a district with fixed boundaries: cf. pangere to fasten. Cf. Painim, Peasant,
and Pact, also Heathen.]
One who worships false gods; an idolater; a heathen; one who is neither a Christian, a Mohammedan, nor a Jew.
Neither having the accent of
Christians, nor the gait of Christian, pagan, nor man.
Shak. Syn. -- Gentile; heathen; idolater. -- Pagan,
Gentile, Heathen. Gentile
was applied to the other nations of the earth
as distinguished from the Jews. Pagan was the name given to idolaters in the early
Christian church, because the villagers, being most remote from the centers of instruction, remained for a long time unconverted. Heathen has the same origin. Pagan is now more properly applied to rude and uncivilized idolaters, while heathen embraces
all who practice idolatry.
Hear it pronounced