dogma

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dogma (“philosophical tenet, doctrine”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} partly also borrowed from Middle French dogme, recorded from 1570.^[2][4] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek δόγμα (dógma, “opinion, belief, decree”), literally that which one thinks true,^[2][3][8] from δοκέω (dokéō, “to seem, seem good, think”) and the suffix -μα (-ma).^[2][8][9] The Greek verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dek- (“to take, accept”),^[3][8][6] the root of Latin decet (“it is fitting”) and so of decent.^[8][10] The OED compares Spanish dogma and Italian dogma.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An opinion or belief, especially a doctrine laid down by authority: 1534, in a translation of Erasmus's Enchiridion, in the plural dogmies, which the OED cannot explain.^[2][5] Barnhart first finds the plural dogmata before 1600, in Richard Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, and the singular in 1638;^[4] Etymonline dates the plural to about 1600.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In classical Latin dogma was a philosophical tenet; in post-classical Latin it also meant a decree in the Vulgate, and orthodox religious doctrine from the 4th century.^[2] English took over both the opinion and the authoritative doctrine, and also used it for an arrogant declaration of opinion.^[2][11] In the 17th and 18th centuries it was treated as a Greek word, with the plural dogmata, before it was naturalized.^[3][12] Johnson (1755) defined it as "established principle; settled notion", quoting Dryden on the dogmas of the Stoics.^[13] The collective sense, a body of belief or tenets laid down authoritatively, is recorded from 1797, in Burke.^[2] Dogmatic is recorded from 1678 and dogmatism from 1603.^[4]

Timeline

• 1534 – an opinion or belief; a doctrine laid down by authority.^[2][5]
• c. 1600 – the plural dogmata.^[4][3]
• 1638 – the singular dogma.^[4]
• 1797 – a body of doctrine laid down authoritatively.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A doctrine or set of doctrines laid down by a church as true.^[14][5][2]
2. A belief or principle, or a code of them, held by a group, especially one accepted without question: party dogma.^[14][5][2]
3. An opinion stated as if it were certain; an arrogant assertion.^[5][2][11]

Word family

• dogmatic
• dogmatics
• dogmatism
• dogmatist
• dogmatize
• dogmatic theology

Related words

• decent
• doctrine
• doctor
• orthodox
• paradox

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins