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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.

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

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.