nullifidian
English edit
Etymology edit
From Latin nūllus (“not any”) + fidēs (“faith”) + -ian
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
nullifidian (plural nullifidians)
- (archaic) A sceptic; an atheist or unbeliever.
- 1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter IV, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I, page 56:
- [...] Celia was no longer the eternal cherub, but a thorn in her spirit, a pink-and-white nullifidian, worse than any discouraging presence in the 'Pilgrim's Progress.'
- 1892, George Gissing, Born in Exile:
- A man may be content to remain a nullifidian; women cannot rest at that stage. They demand the spiritual significance of everything.
Adjective edit
nullifidian
Antonyms edit
References edit
- “nullifidian”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.