heres-, heretic- +

(Greek > Latin: a taking, choosing, choice; to take for oneself; sect)

heresiarch
A founder or leader of heresy.
heresiography
A treatise or written documentation about heresies.
heresiologist
A student or specialist of heresies.
heresiology
The study of heresies.
heresy
1. An unorthodox belief or doctrine; especially as regards some theological or church beliefs or "orthodox" doctrine.
2. An opinion or a doctrine at variance with established religious beliefs, especially dissension from or denial of Roman Catholic dogma by a professed believer or baptized church member; adherence to such dissenting opinion or doctrine.
3. In the Roman Catholic Church: the willful and persistent rejection of any article of faith by a baptized member of the church.
4. A controversial or unorthodox opinion or doctrine, as in politics, philosophy, or science and adherence to such controversial or unorthodox opinion.
5. By extension, heresy is an opinion or doctrine in philosophy, politics, science, art, etc., which are at variance with those generally accepted as authoritative.
heretic, heretical
1. Someone who is judged to be guilty of heresy.
2. A professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.
3. In the Roman Catholic Church: a baptized Roman Catholic who willfully and persistently rejects an article of faith.
4. Anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle in politics or any other socially accepted custom or belief.
5. Someone who holds unorthodox opinions in any field whether religious or in some other area of human relations.

It is perceived that "heresy" has no purely objective meaning: the category exists only from the point-of-view of a position within a sect that has been previously defined as "orthodox".

So it is any nonconformist view within any field which may be perceived as "heretical" by others within that field who are convinced that their view is "orthodox".

Heretics usually do not define their own beliefs as heretical. Heresy is a value-judgment and the expression of a view from within an established belief system.

For instance, Roman Catholics held Protestantism as a heresy while some non-Catholics considered Catholicism the "Great Apostasy."

hereticalness
1. Of or relating to heresy or heretics.
2. Characterized by, revealing, or approaching departure from established beliefs or standards.
hereticaster
A petty or contemptible heretic.
hereticate
1. To declare to be heretical.
2. To decide to be heresy or a heretic.
3. To denounce as a heretic or heretical.
hereticide
The killing of a heretic or heretics.

Etymology of the words heresy and heretic

  • In ancient Greek, the verb hairein, meaning "to take", gave rise to the adjective hairetos "able to choose" and the noun hairesis "the act of choosing".
  • In time the noun developed the extended senses of a "a choice", "a course of action", "a school of thought", and "a philosophical or religious sect". Stoicism was considered a hairesis
  • Within Judaism, a heresy (our Modern English equivalent and derivative of hairesis) was a religious faction, party, or sect; such as, the Pharisees or Sadducees.
  • Applied to such groups, hairesis was used in a neutral, nonpejorative manner.
  • In fact, when this Greek noun is used in the New Testament (Bible), it is usually translated as sect.
  • By the end of the second century, haeresis (the Latin equivalent) was being applied to an organized body holding a false or sacrilegious doctrine.
  • From this use, it took on the sense of "a body of doctrine substantially differing in some aspect from the doctrine taught by the Church".
  • The Catholic Church used the Latin haeresis (from the Greek hairesis) for "heresy" and haereticus (from the Late Greek hairetikos, a derivative of hairetos "able to choose") for "heretic".
  • These two words were taken into early French as heresie/eresie and heritique/eritique and then into English in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, respectively, as heresy an heretic.
  • Their religious senses passed into English as well.
  • In Chaucer's time, c. 1385, the noun began to take on a nonecclesiastical use, being applied to any dissenting opinion, belief, or doctrine in any field.
  • At about the same time we also find this noun being used for "a school of thought, a sect", echoing the ancient Greek use of hairesis.
—Excerpts from Webster's Word Histories, Merriam-Webster Inc., Publishers; Springfield, Massachuksetts, 1989.

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