heterodox

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἑτερόδοξος (heteródoxos, “of another opinion; holding opinions other than the right ones”),^[2][3][4][5] which Merriam-Webster Unabridged, the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English take through Late Latin heterodoxus.^[6][7][8] The Greek adjective is formed from ἕτερος (héteros, “the other”) and δόξα (dóxa, “opinion”),^[2][3][4] from δοκέω (dokéō, “to seem, think”),^[4][5][9] which Etymonline traces to a causative form of Proto-Indo-European *dek- (“to take, accept”).^[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, an opinion that departs from what is generally accepted: 1619, in a letter of Walter Balcanqual from the Synod of Dort.^[2][3] The Oxford Dictionary of English likewise says the word was first a noun for an unorthodox opinion, in the early 17th century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a heterodox opinion, lasted only through the 17th century (to 1691 in the OED),^[2][7][10] and was used once, in 1647, for a heterodox person.^[2][10] The adjective, recorded by Barnhart from 1637,^[3] was at first a term of religion and theology: of doctrines, not in line with the established or orthodox teaching (1650).^[2][10] From 1654 it was used of opinions in general.^[2][10] From 1658 it also described people who held opinions against an accepted standard, in theology from 1735.^[2][10] Johnson (1755) defined the adjective as deviating from the established opinion, and still gave the noun, an opinion peculiar to someone, with a quotation from Browne's Vulgar Errours.^[11] The noun heterodoxy followed in 1652.^[3]

Timeline

• 1619 – noun, an opinion against the accepted one (obsolete after 1691).^[2][3]
• 1637 – adjective, not orthodox.^[3] Etymonline dates the adjective to the 1630s.^[4]
• 1647 – noun, a heterodox person (rare).^[2]
• 1650 – of doctrines, not in accord with established religious teaching.^[2][3]
• 1654 – of opinions in general, unorthodox.^[2]
• 1658 – of people, holding unorthodox opinions; in theology from 1735.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not in agreement with established or accepted doctrines or beliefs, especially in religion; unorthodox: a heterodox reading of the creed.^[12][6][2]
2. Holding or teaching unorthodox or heretical opinions: a heterodox preacher.^[12][6][2]

Word family

• heterodoxly

Related words

• heterodoxy
• hetero-
• orthodox
• doxology
• paradox
• dogma

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 o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c d e Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins