Dictionary

atheous en · ADJ

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἄθεος (átheos, “without God/gods”). See atheist.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) Atheistic.
   • In atheous men conscience becomes a scourge. 1792, David Lloyd, The Voyage of Life: A Poem. in Nine Books, volume 3, C. Dilly, page 46:
   • Thy Father, who is holy, wiſe and pure, Suffers the Hypocrite or Atheous Prieſt To tread his Sacred Courts... 1671, John Milton, Paradise regain'd, a poem in IV books: to which is added Samson Agonistes, London: John Starkey, →OL, The First Book, page 487:
   • It is an ignorant conceit, that enquiry into nature should make men atheous: no man is so apt to see the star of Christ, as a diligent disciple of philosophy. 1612, Joseph Hall, “The Sages and the Star”, in Contemplations upon the principal passages of the holie storie:
2. (obsolete) Without God, neither accepting nor denying him.
   • I should say science was atheous, and therefore could not be atheistic. 1880, Harvey Goodwin, “God and Nature”, in Popular Science:

Forms