Cathar

American  

[kath-ahr] / ˈkæθ ɑr /

noun

plural

Cathari, Cathars

1. (in medieval Europe) a member of any of several rigorously ascetic Christian sects maintaining a dualistic theology.

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Cathar British  

/ ˈkæθərɪst, ˈkæθə /

noun

1. a member of a Christian sect in Provence in the 12th and 13th centuries who believed the material world was evil and only the spiritual was good

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Other Word Forms

• Catharism noun
• Catharistic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Cathar

First recorded in 1630–40; from Late Latin Catharī (plural), from Late Greek hoi Katharoí “Novatians,” literally, “the pure”; applied in Medieval Latin to various sects

Example Sentences

This is the second, through Cathar country in the rarely visited eastern Pyrenees.

From The Guardian • Jul. 10, 2021

The blood of St. Peter Martyr, who was killed by Cathar heretics in 1252, was also accorded medicinal properties.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 7, 2019

The Cathar debate doesn’t seem to be hurting the region — the revival of interest in its cultural history shows no sign of slowing.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2018

The city of Albi is dominated by the massive Cathedral Basilica of St. Cecilia, a 200-year construction project launched by the Catholic Church after the Cathar crusade, supposedly to remind locals who was boss.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2018

The central Cathar rite was consolamentum, or baptism with spirit and fire.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5 "Cat" to "Celt" by Various