noun
Other Word Forms
- nontheistic adjective
- nontheistical adjective
- nontheistically adverb
- theist noun
- theistic adjective
- theistical adjective
- theistically adverb
- untheistic adjective
- untheistical adjective
- untheistically adverb
Etymology
Origin of theism
Compare meaning
How does theism compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Use the noun theism to describe the belief in at least one god. Practicing Catholics, for example, subscribe to theism. If you believe that God created the universe, you believe in theism. Its opposite is atheism, which means not believing in any god or higher spiritual power. There are different types of theism, such as monotheism, which is belief in only one god, and polytheism, belief in more than one god. The root of theism is the Greek word theos, or "god." English philosopher Ralph Cudworth was the first to use the term theism, in the 1600s.
Vocabulary lists containing theism
Power Suffix: -ism
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The Suffix -ism, Part 2
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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #9
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
References to the Creator and Nature’s God in the Declaration reflect a general theism that could be acceptable to Christians, Unitarians, deists and others.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 17, 2024
Many who regard theism as a backward-looking social force might usefully consider how each of these holidays contains the seeds of rebellion.
From Washington Post • Apr. 17, 2022
Why not deism instead of theism, or pantheism instead of either?
From New York Times • Aug. 14, 2021
I represented the agnostic position and David Lahti, a biologist and philosopher at the City University of New York, a position more friendly to theism.
From Scientific American • May 19, 2019
Why go to Browning for theism, when the words of his "Rabbi Ben Ezra" are but a synopsis of a famous Jewish argument?
From The Grandchildren of the Ghetto by Zangwill, Israel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
