Definitions

Webster's International Dictionary of the English Language, 1903. Comprising the issues of 1864, 1879, and 1884.

atheism: 1. The disbelief or denial of the existence of a God, or supreme intelligent Being. 2. Godlessness.

agnosticism: That doctrine which, professing ignorance, neither affirms nor denies. Specifically: (Theol.) The doctrine that the exisence of a personal Deity, an unseen world, etc., can be neither proved nor disproved, because of the necessary limits of the human mind (as sometimes charged upon Hamilton or Mansel), or because of the insufficience of the evidence furnished by psychical and physical data, to warrant a positive conclusion (as taught by the school of Herbert Spencer); - opposed alike to dogmatic skepticism and to dogmatic theism.

disbelieve: not to believe; to refuse belief or credence to; to hold not to be true or actual.

A common theme throughout the definitions on this page is the primary use of "disbelieve" when defining atheism. Some modern dictionaries drop this, but most comprehensive dictionaries do not. For some reason, however, people simply ignore this word and move right along to the secondary sense of "denial." When we take a closer look at the word "disbelieve," however, we find two senses: an active and a passive.

In the passive sense, "disbelieve" simply means "not believe" - thus a person who disbelieves a claim may simply not accept the truth of the claim without going any further, like asserting the opposite. This is the broadest sense of atheism, lacking belief in any gods. In the active sense, "disbelieve" involves deliberately refusing to believe something (possible reasons might include a lack of evidence or an incoherent claim). Once again, however, this is not the same as asserting that the claim is false and represents a slightly narrower version of weak atheism.

Strong atheism, the outright denial that any gods do or perhaps can exist, only appears with the secondary definition of atheism: denial of the existence of a God (notice that in this very early dictionary, the reference is simply to "God," not "gods" generally - this is a common and understandable focus on the sort of theism common to the West). Thus, the above definition of atheism, dating back at least to 1903 and probably much earlier, encompasses both the "weak" and the "strong" senses of atheism used by atheists today. The same will be true, with minor changes in wording, through the rest of the dictionary definitions below.

The New Century Dictionary, 1927.

atheism [Gr. atheos, without a god < a, priv. + theos, god] The doctrine that there is no God; disbelief in the existence of a God (or of gods); also, godlessness of life.

agnostic [Gr. agnostos, unknown, unknowable, < a priv. + gignosko, know.] One who holds that the ultimate cause (God) and the essential nature of things are unknown or unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.

disbelief: The reverse of belief; conviction of the untrustworthiness or falseness of a thing.

disbelieve: tr. To have no belief in; refuse to credit; regard as untrustworthy or fase. intr. To be without belief; esp. to refuse to believe in a divine revelation.

The above definition places "doctrine that there is no God" as primary and mere "disbelief" as secondary. Different dictionaries vary on which they put first and which they put second, but larger and comprehensive dictionaries which have been published most recently tend to place mere "disbelief" in the first slot.

Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1942.

atheism [Gr. atheos, an atheist - a, priv. and theos, God] The disbelief of the existence of a God or Supreme intelligent Being.

agnostic [Gr. agnostos, unknowing, unknown, from a, priv. and gignosko, knowing. Same root as know] One of those persons who disclaim any knowledge of God or of the origin of the universe or of anything but material phenomena, holding that with regard to such matters nothing can be known.

disbelief: Refusal of credit or faith; denial of belief; unbelief; infidelity; scepticism.

unbelief: Incredulity; the withholding of belief; infidelity; disbelief of divine revelation; disbelief of the truths of the gospel.

Like some definitions, the above entry for disbelief leaves off the passive sense of "disbelief," defining it solely as an active result to believe something. Although this fails to account for the broadest sense of atheism, it nevertheless points towards atheism being broader than mere denial of gods generally or some particular God.

Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary, 1943.

atheism [Gr. atheos, a, priv. and theos, God] The disbelief of the existence of a God, or supreme intelligent Being.

agnosticism [Gr. agnostos, unknowing, unknown, from a, priv. and gignosko, knowing.] In theology, the doctrine that God is unknown and unknowable; because God has not revealed himself to man; because finite mind cannot comprehend God; because Absolute God cannot come into intimacy nor make himself known to finite mind. In philosophy, the doctrine that First Cause and the essential nature of things are unknowable to man; that it is impossible to know the existence of the human soul and Ultimate Cause, or to prove or disprove it.

By agnosticism, I understand a theory of things which abstains from either affirming or denying the existence of God; all it undertakes to affirm is, that , upon existing evidence, the being of God is unknown. - G.J. Romanes.

disbelieve: Not to believe; to hold not to be true or not to exist; to refuse to credit.

Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary of the English Language, 1947.

atheism: 1. The denial of or disbelief in God, as a First Cause, or Ground, of the universe.  As dogmatic atheism it denies, as negative atheism it does not believe in, and as critical or skeptical atheism (or agnosticism) it doubts, the existence of god.

What is called positive or dogmatic atheism, so far from being the only type of atheism, is the rarest of all kinds. . . . Every man is an atheist who does not believe that there is a God. R. FLINT Agnosticism sec. 3, p. 53. [s. '03]

Theism affirms, Atheism denies, Agnosticism ignores, the existence of any such soul. WAINWRIGHT Sophisms p. 247. [F. & W. 1883]

The above definition is among the most comprehensive because it very specifically acknowledges the three general positions an atheist might have towards gods: outright denial, active refusal to believe and passive nonbelief. It still conflates agnosticism with a position independent of theism, but it observes more nuances than most dictionaries.

Webster's Unabridged Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1957.

atheism: Disbelief in the existence of God; the state of godlessness. Atheism: unbelief in or denial of God or any supernaturalism; to ancient Greek it meant denial and lack of recognition of stat gods. In 18th cent. it was a protest against religious hypocrisy; in 19th cent. it was any system not recognizing the idea of a personal Creator or any one supreme being. It sees marter, not spirit, as sole universal principle; its history one of opposition. Term often loosely used in referring to agnostics who neither deny nor admit the existence of God, or in regard to others who disagree with current theological doctrine.

agnostic: One who, while he does not deny the existence of God, believes there is no proof of a Supreme Being; sometimes confused with atheist.

agnosticism: 1. The doctrine that nothing is known or knowable of the origin or nature of the universe or its creator, except the physical manifestations of phenomena, neither accepting nor rejecting a Deity with supernatural power. 2. Any doctrine which maintains that matters generally accepted as knowledge are problematical, since all are related and trace to a common unknown source.

disbelief: lack of belief, unbelief.

Unlike most dictionaries, this one traces the course of how the term "athiesm" has been used over the centuries, leading us to the more modern usage which incorporates anything which simply does not bother believing in any gods.

Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictgionary, 1980.

atheist: one who denies or disbelieves in the existence of God.

agnosticism: The doctrine and philosophical theory that man cannot know God, first truths, or anything beyond material phenomena.

theism: Belief in, or in the existence of, God, a god, or gods.

disbelief: Lack of belief

Oxford English Dictionary.

atheism: (from Greek atheos, "without God, denying God") Disbelief in, or denial of, the existence of a God. Also, Disregard of duty to God, godlessness (practical atheism).

agnostic: (from Greek agnostos, "unknowing, unknown, unknowable") One who holds that the existence of anything beyond and behind material phenomena is unknown and, so far as can be judged, unknowable, and especially that a First Cause and an unseen world are subjects of which we know nothing.

[Suggested by Prof. Huxley at a party held previous to the formation of the now defunct Metaphysical Society, at Mr. James Knowles's house on Chapham Common, one evening in 1869, in my hearing. He took it from St. Paul's mention of the altar to 'the Unknown God.' R.H. Hutton in letter 13 May 1881]

disbelieve: 1. trans. Not to believe or credit; to refuse credence to: a. a statement or (alleged) fact: To reject the reality of. (With simple object or object clause). b. a person making a statement. 2. absol. or intr. Whatley Commonpl. Bk. (1864) It is very evident that the opposite to credulity is scepticism, and that to disbelieve is to believe. 3. intr. with in.: Not to believe in; to have no faith in.

disbeliever: One who disbelieves or refuses belief; an unbeliever.

unbeliever: One who does not believe; spec. one who does not accept a particular religious belief, an infidel.

Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged.

atheism: (from Greek atheos, "godless, not believing in the existence of gods) 1a: disbelief in the existence of God or any other deity b: the doctrine that there is neither God nor any other deity 2: godlessness esp. in conduct : ungodliness, wickedness.

agnostic: (from Greek agnostos, "unknown, unknowable, not knowing) one who professes agnosticism; broadly: one who maintains a continuing doubt about the existence or knowability of a god or any ultimates <~... came into my head as suggestively antithetic to the gnostic of church history who professed to know so much - T. H. Huxley>

agnosticism: 1a: the doctrine that the existence or nature of any ultimate reality is unknown and probbly unknowable or that any knowledge about matters of ultimate concern is impossible or improbable; specif: the doctrine that God or any first cause is unknown and probably unknowable. b: a doctrine affirming that the existence of a god is possible but denying that there are any sufficient reasons for holding either that he does or does not exist.

disbelieve: vt to hold not to be true or real; reject or withhold belief in. ti to withhold or reject belief.

unbeliever: 1: one that does not believe: an incredulous person : doubter, skeptic. 2: disbeliever, infidel.


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