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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

nullifidian en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˌnʌ.ləˈfɪd.i.ən/ (General-American)
  • (General-American) audio
  • /ˌnʌ.lɪˈfɪd.i.ən/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ís? Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos Proto-Italic *oinosder. Proto-Italic *noinolos Latin nūllusder. Old French nul Middle French nulbor. English null Latin -i-bor. English -i- English nulli- Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ-der. Latin fidēs Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *-ānos Latin -ānus Latin -iānusbor. English -ian English nullifidian From nulli- (prefix meaning ‘null; no’) + Latin fidēs (“belief, faith”) + English -ian (suffix meaning ‘one belonging to, from, like, or relating to’, forming nouns; and ‘from, like, or related to’ forming adjectives) (compare Late Latin nullifidius (“infidel”)): * Nulli- is derived from Latin nūllus (“not any”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos, *óynos (“one; single”). * Fidēs is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- (“to convince; to trust”).

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Having no faith or religion; atheist; also, doubtful or sceptical about faith or religion.
    • Near-synonym: agnostic
    • I fear treachery to the host from this nullifidian Achan—Thou shalt not go with him. Thou art our chariots and our horsemen. 1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume IV (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 51:
    • To whom the sceptic, or in the phrase of Wither's time the nullifidian [John] Nott:—'I should doubt this—he would not compare himself to the other (!)—Daw was wanted for the rhyme.' 1885 January, Algernon Charles Swinburne, “Charles Lamb and George Wither”, in Miscellanies, London: Chatto & Windus, […], published 1886, →OCLC, page 175:

Antonyms

fidelitous · solifidian · faithful

Coordinates

legalistic · minimifidian

Synonyms

agnostic · atheistic

nullifidian en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˌnʌ.ləˈfɪd.i.ən/ (General-American)
  • (General-American) audio
  • /ˌnʌ.lɪˈfɪd.i.ən/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ís? Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos Proto-Italic *oinosder. Proto-Italic *noinolos Latin nūllusder. Old French nul Middle French nulbor. English null Latin -i-bor. English -i- English nulli- Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ-der. Latin fidēs Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *-ānos Latin -ānus Latin -iānusbor. English -ian English nullifidian From nulli- (prefix meaning ‘null; no’) + Latin fidēs (“belief, faith”) + English -ian (suffix meaning ‘one belonging to, from, like, or relating to’, forming nouns; and ‘from, like, or related to’ forming adjectives) (compare Late Latin nullifidius (“infidel”)): * Nulli- is derived from Latin nūllus (“not any”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos, *óynos (“one; single”). * Fidēs is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- (“to convince; to trust”).

Meanings

  1. Synonym of atheist (“a person who does not believe in deities or gods”).
    • [I]n case thou shoulds't hollo for assistance, as yonder Nullifidian hath it. 1826, [Walter Scott], chapter III, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 65:
    • And then we all went to church, Christians and nullifidians both, and we all sang praise to whatever force it was that had stilled the storm and saved the town, and the Reverend Kline spoke of Elijah taken up to heaven in a whirlwind and said how at times we need the storm, the whirlwind, the earthquake. 2016, John Dufresne, “Epilogue”, in I Don’t Like Where This is Going (A Wylie Coyote Novel; 2), New York, N.Y.; London: W[illiam] W[arder] Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 237:
    • [I]n their eyes, a lukewarm Presbyterian was little better than a Prelatist, an Anti-covenanter, and a Nullifidian. 1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume IV (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 45:
    • [I]t must be obvious to you that women are destined to play the leading part in our Christian renascence, precisely as they did in the original speading of the faith. […] A man may be content to remain a nullifidian; women cannot rest at that stage. They demand the spiritual significance of everything. 1892, George Gissing, chapter I, in Born in Exile […], volume III, London; Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, →OCLC, 5th part, page 18:
    • Near-synonyms: apostate, heretic, infidel (either coordinate or synonymous depending on the beliefs of the speaker or writer)
  2. (figuratively, obsolete) Synonym of sceptic, skeptic (“a person who does not believe in or doubts something”).
    • […] Celia was no longer the eternal cherub, but a thorn in her spirit, a pink-and-white nullifidian, worse than any discouraging presence in the 'Pilgrim's Progress.' 1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter IV, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I, page 56:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
nullifidians Number=Plur lexicographic

Antonyms

solifidian · believer · true believer

Coordinates

legalist · minimifidian

Deriveds

nullifidianism

Synonyms

apostate · skeptic · sceptic · infidel · atheist · heretic