religion

noun

(uncountable) Belief in a spiritual or metaphysical reality (often including at least one deity), accompanied by practices or rituals pertaining to the belief.

(countable) A particular system of such belief, and the rituals and practices proper to it.

(countable) Any practice to which someone or some group is seriously devoted.

(uncountable) The way of life committed to by monks and nuns.

(uncountable, informal) Rituals and actions associated with religious beliefs, but considered apart from them.

(uncountable, obsolete) Faithfulness to a given principle; conscientiousness.

verb

Engage in religious practice.

Indoctrinate into a specific religion.

To make sacred or symbolic; sanctify.

Roots

ligolig- · Latin · bind

Synonyms for religion

faithn hierologyadj religiousnessn theismn secularismn religionismn theologyn creedn churchgoingadj devoutnessn

Synonyms & related words for religion

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of religion — including faith, hierology, religiousness, theism, secularism, religionism. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to religion

Explore words related to religion — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include religiose, religious, miscreance, ditheism, ecclesiasticism, religiosity, nullifidian, interfaith. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for religion

Common synonyms for religion include faith, hierology, religiousness, theism, secularism, religionism, theology, creed — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does religion come from?

The word religion breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root lig-, from Latin ligo (“bind”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.