Re: Pagan - etymology?

Barry Garcia wrote:

> Recently, on a thread on my schools message board, someone claimed that
> "pagan" meant "person of the earth". Now, i went to look it up in my
> dictionary, because it shows the etymology of words at the ends of
> definitions. It said it comes from "pagus" or "village, rural district".
> Now, he refuted that and says he can provide me with references that say
> "pagan" really does mean "person of the earth".
>
> So, all you Latin buffs and etymology buffs who can help, can you provide
> me with info on this simple little word that either backs up my claim, or
> proves me, and the dictionary wrong?
English _pagan_ derives from Late Latin _paganus_, which signified at that
time something like 'hick' or 'bumpkin'.   The reason it acquired religious connotations
was that by the late fourth and early fifth centuries, essentially the entirety of the
urban population of the Western Roman Empire had converted to Christianity
(as Christianity had always been an urban religious phenomenon), and, for the
most part, the only people who remained unconverted were the people out in
the country.  To be sure, it was a derogatory term, just as my glosses above
are in English today.

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Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
ICQ#: 4315704   AIM: trwier
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."
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