Nicene
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of Nicene
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin Nīcēnus, variant of Nīcaenus < Greek Nīkaîos ( Nī́kai ( a ) Nicaea + -os adj. suffix), with -n- from Latin adj. suffix -ānus -an
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.
Theodosius was the Christian Roman emperor who embraced the Nicene Creed as the religion of empire in the late fourth century, conducting a single-minded suppression of paganism in the lands over which he ruled.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
In 325 AD, among other key decisions, more than 200 bishops at the council affirmed the belief that Jesus was the son of God, eventually leading to what is known as the Nicene Creed.
From BBC • Nov. 26, 2025
The First Council of Constantinople, convened in 381, reestablished the Nicene Creed and addressed the topic of the Holy Spirit, suggesting that the problem of Arius’s sympathizers had not completely disappeared.
From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023
Faculty members hired by Calvin University must sign a document saying their beliefs align with a set of historical Christian creeds and confessions, such as the Nicene Creed and the Heidelberg Catechism.
From Washington Post • Nov. 3, 2022
When I ended he asked after a slight pause whether I knew why the Nicene Creed was so called.
From Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life by Child-Villiers, Margaret Elizabeth Leigh
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.
