Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
plural noun
- members of a Catharistic sect in the south of France that arose in the 11th century and was exterminated in the 13th century by a crusade (Albigensian Crusade) and the Inquisition.
pl n
- members of a Manichean sect that flourished in S France from the 11th to the 13th century
c.1600, “relating to the Albigenses,” Catharist religious reformers of southern France c.1020-1250, Medieval Latin Albigenses (12c.), from French Albi, name of the town in Languedoc where they lived and were first condemned as heretics (1176). The town name is from Roman personal name Albius, from Latin albus “white” (see alb).