religious

From Middle English religiouse, religious, religius, religeous, from Anglo-Norman religieus, religius, from Old French religious, religieux, and their source, Latin religiōsus (“religious, superstitious, conscientious”), from religiō. Doublet of religieux.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ɹɪ.ˈlɪd͡ʒ.əs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪdʒəs

religious (comparative more religious, superlative most religious)

1. Concerning religion.
   • 1787 September 17, Constitutional Convention, Constitution of the United States‎, Philadelphia, page 4:

     The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

   • 2014 March 3, Zoe Alderton, “‘Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion within the Harry Potter Fandom”, in Religions‎, volume 5, number 1, MDPI, DOI:10.3390/rel5010219, archived from the original on 20 December 2014, pages 219-257:

     Despite personal schisms and differences in spiritual experience, there is a very coherent theology of Snape shared between the wives. To examine this manifestation of religious fandom, I will first discuss the canon scepticism and anti-Rowling sentiment that helps to contextualise the wider belief in Snape as a character who extends beyond book and film.

   It is the job of this court to rule on legal matters. We do not consider religious issues.

2. Committed to the practice or adherence of religion.

   I was much more religious as a teenager than I am now.

3. Highly dedicated, as one would be to a religion.

   I'm a religious fan of college basketball.

• (concerning religion): irreligious, profane, secular, atheistic
• (committed to religion): areligious, irreligious
• (highly dedicated): casual

religious (plural religious or religiouses)

1. A member of a religious order, i.e. a monk or nun.
   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 354:

     Towards the end of the seventh century the monks of Fleury [...] clandestinely excavated the body of Benedict himself, plus the corpse of his even more shadowy sister and fellow religious, Scholastica.

• religious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• religious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911