Jump To:

• Pelagian
  Pelagian

  noun

  a follower of Pelagius, who denied original sin and believed in freedom of the will.
• pelagian
  pelagian

  adjective

  of or inhabiting the open sea

Pelagian

American  

[puh-lay-jee-uhn, -juhn] / pəˈleɪ dʒi ən, -dʒən /

noun

1. a follower of Pelagius, who denied original sin and believed in freedom of the will.

---

adjective

1. of or relating to Pelagius or Pelagianism.

Pelagian ¹ British  

/ pɛˈleɪdʒɪən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Pelagius or his doctrines

---

noun

1. an adherent of the doctrines of Pelagius

pelagian ² British  

/ pɛˈleɪdʒɪən /

adjective

1. of or inhabiting the open sea

---

Other Word Forms

• Pelagianism
  noun

---

Etymology

Origin of Pelagian

1525–35; < Late Latin Pelagiānus; see -an

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Pelagian pelagian

“It’s like Anthony Burgess’s idea that Pelagian liberalism alternates historically with Augustinian conservatism,” he said.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 10, 2019

Thousands of others have arrived on nearby Pelagian islands, as well as Sicily and Sardinia.

From Newsweek ● Jun. 12, 2011

The shock has tumbled him from the single Pelagian optimism about man's moral perfectibility that he entertained in his Pygmy days into another error, radical pessimism about man's depravity.

From Time Magazine Archive

By the close of the Middle Ages, says Dr. Hardman, the Pelagian doctrine of merit had virtually replaced Augustinian predestination in the practical workings of the Church.

From Time Magazine Archive

Augustine himself insists on the novelty of the Pelagian teaching.

From Grace, Actual and Habitual A Dogmatic Treatise by Arthur Preuss

Analogous circumstances may have caused, in the ancient catastrophes of our planet, that singular mixture of pelagian and fluviatile bones and petrifactions, which is observed in some rocks of recent formation.

From Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 2 by Alexander von Humboldt

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---