blasphemy








noun, plural blas·phe·mies.

  1. impious utterance or action concerning God or sacred things.
  2. Judaism.
    1. an act of cursing or reviling God.
    2. pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton (YHVH) in the original, now forbidden manner instead of using a substitute pronunciation such as Adonai.
  3. Theology. the crime of assuming to oneself the rights or qualities of God.
  4. irreverent behavior toward anything held sacred, priceless, etc.: He uttered blasphemies against life itself.

noun plural -mies

  1. blasphemous behaviour or language
  2. Also called: blasphemous libel law the crime committed if a person insults, offends, or vilifies the deity, Christ, or the Christian religion
n.

early 13c., from Old French blasfemie “blasphemy,” from Late Latin blasphemia, from Greek blasphemia “a speaking ill, impious speech, slander,” from blasphemein “to speak evil of.” Second element is pheme “utterance” (see fame); first element uncertain, perhaps related to blaptikos “hurtful,” though blax “slack (in body and mind), stupid” also has been suggested.

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