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theology

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /θiˈɒl.ə.dʒi/, US /θiˈɑː.lə.dʒi/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English teologye, borrowed from Old French theologie (“philosophical study of Christian doctrine”) and directly Latin theologia,[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek θεολογία (theología, “an account of the gods”), from θεολόγος (theológos, “one who discourses on the gods”),[2][3][4] from θεός (theós, “god”) and λόγος (lógos) (see -logy).[2][3] Etymonline traces theós to Proto-Indo-European *dhes-, a root that forms words for religious ideas.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The study of God and his relation to humanity: 1362 in the OED, before 1376 in Piers Plowman in Barnhart, the late 14th century in Etymonline.[6][2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Latin theologia meant the study of the heathen gods,[5] and the English word at first applied only to Christianity.[7] It was used for metaphysics in 1390, an obsolete sense.[6] Non-Christian systems are theologies from 1662,[6] and a particular theological system from 1669.[6][3] The theology of hope, translating German, is from 1959,[6] and a disparaging use for any rigid set of principles from 1962.[6] Theologian is from the 15th century and theological from the 16th.[4]

Timeline

  • 1362 – the study of God.[6]
  • 1390 – metaphysics (obsolete).[6]
  • 1662 – non-Christian theologies.[6]
  • 1669 – a theological system.[6]
  • 1959 – theology of hope.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The study of the nature of God and of religious truth.
  2. A system or school of religious opinion: feminist theology.
  3. A course of religious study at a college or seminary.
  4. (disparaging) A rigid system of theoretical principles.

Word family

  • antitheology
  • theologian
  • theological
  • theologise
  • theologize
  • dogmatic theology
  • natural theology
  • New England theology

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press