gnostic English · revision 1272

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈnɒstɪk/ ''(UK)''; /ˈnɑstɪk/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|Gnosticus|t=a Gnostic]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|γνωστικός|tr=gnōstikós|t=knowing, able to discern]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''gnōstós'' “known”, from ''gignṓskein'' “to come to know”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) It is related to [[gnosis]], [[know]] and [[agnostic]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''(capitalized)'' A member of one of the early Christian sects that claimed superior knowledge of spiritual things (1563 in the OED; 1585–87 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Gnostic sects appeared in the first century, flourished in the second, and had died out by the sixth.^(Etymonline) The adjective, relating to knowledge, is recorded from 1656,^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and from 1800 it meant possessing esoteric spiritual knowledge.^(OED 1989) In 19th-century humorous slang it meant clever or knowing (1819).^(OED 1989) ''Gnosticism'' is from 1664.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1563 – a member of the Gnostic sects.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1656 – adjective, relating to knowledge.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1664 – ''Gnosticism''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1800 – possessing esoteric knowledge.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1819 – slang, clever, knowing.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of, relating to or possessing intellectual or spiritual knowledge.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(capitalized)'' Of or relating to [[Gnosticism]] or the Gnostics.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(often capitalized)'' A believer in Gnosticism.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gnostically]]

+ * [[antignostic]]

+ * [[ungnostic]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Gnosticism]]

+ * [[gnosis]]

+ * [[agnostic]]

+ * [[know]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}