paynim

[ pey-nim ]

/ ˈpeɪ nɪm /

noun Archaic.

a pagan or heathen.

a Muslim.

pagandom; heathendom.

Nearby words

Origin of paynim

1200–50; Middle English: pagan (noun and adj.), pagan countries, heathendom < Old French pai(e)nime < Late Latin pāgānismus paganism

Related formspay·nim·hood, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for paynim

Eleven thousand Christian virgins in a little, wee, Paynim city!
The Cloister and the Hearth|Charles Reade
There were three died in the Holy Land doing battle with the Paynim.
Long Will|Florence Converse
I allowed if the paynim was satisfied I was, and we would let it stand at that.
Tom Sawyer Abroad|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
The mariners answered that this realm belonged to the Paynim, and was called the Land of Aumarie.
French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France|Marie de France

She procured a viol and learned to play on it; till one day they wished to marry her to a king, a rich Paynim.
Aucassin and Nicolette|Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for paynim

paynim

/ (ˈpeɪnɪm) /

noun archaic

a heathen or pagan

a Muslim

Word Origin for paynim

C13: from Old French paienime, from Late Latin pāgānismus paganism, from pāgānus pagan

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

Word Origin and History for paynim

paynim

mid-13c., "heathen lands," from Old French paienime, paienisme "heathen, pagan; Saracen lands or culture or faith," from Late Latin paganismus "heathendom" (Augustine), from paganus "heathen" (see pagan); mistaken meaning "a heathen person" (late 14c., also in Old French) is via phrases such as paynim lands.