noun
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Etymology
Origin of theism
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Explanation
Use the noun theism to describe the belief in at least one god. Practicing Catholics, for example, subscribe to theism. If you believe that God created the universe, you believe in theism. Its opposite is atheism, which means not believing in any god or higher spiritual power. There are different types of theism, such as monotheism, which is belief in only one god, and polytheism, belief in more than one god. The root of theism is the Greek word theos, or "god." English philosopher Ralph Cudworth was the first to use the term theism, in the 1600s.
Vocabulary lists containing theism
Power Suffix: -ism
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The Suffix -ism, Part 2
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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #9
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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.
Theism concluded that God's purpose in creating contingent beings was that contingent beings would come to love God, a love that God recognized as a fundamental good.
From Slate • Feb. 10, 2012
Theism, for instance, originally argued that contingent being is the result of a necessarily existing God who necessarily creates "the world as it actually is."
From Slate • Feb. 10, 2012
His vast collection of materials in attestation of Theism may have been valuable chiefly as a curiosity; but the man himself was all of one piece, genuine through and through.
From Recollections and Impressions 1822-1890 by Frothingham, Octavius Brooks
The new form of free thought known as English Secularism does not include either Theism or Atheism.
From English Secularism A Confession Of Belief by Holyoake, George Jacob
But when we scrutinize Paine's positive Theism we find a distinctive nucleus forming within the nebulous mass of deistical speculations.
From The Life Of Thomas Paine, Vol. II. (of II) With A History of His Literary, Political and Religious Career in America France, and England by Conway, Moncure Daniel
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.
