1. A spirit or attitude about religious or moral questions: One element of paganism is the worship of idols or false gods.
2. Etymology: from Late Latin paganisnus, "heathenism"; from paganus "villager, civilian"; from pagus, "rural district, village" or "country area" because ancient idol worship continued in rural areas after Christianity had been generally accepted in the towns and cities of the Roman Empire as the true religion.

When new customs and manners reach the big cities, the rural areas are usually behind the times and remain old-fashioned as they tend to keep the "old-time religion" or paganism.