Avenger of blood (Hebrew “go’el”): The Hebrew name for the clansman, “next of kin,” upon whom devolved the duties: (1) of avenging, on the person of the murderer, the blood…
Ilm (Arabic: علم “knowledge”) is the Arabic term for knowledge. However central the idea of ‘ilm to Islamic intellectual culture, it was an essentialist concept, assumed to be a fixed…
Aliyat haNefesh is a sort of pilmigrage made usually on Shabbat day and Holy Days, when devotes marched with Torah Jewish people sing a verse from Tanach: “Ki mitziyon tetzei…
In the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, a Plenary indulgence is “a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins”. It may reduce the…
Misanthropy is the general hatred, distrust or contempt of the human species or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. The word’s origin…
conj. Consequently; therefore. adv. Consequently; hence. ergo: a Latin word meaning therefore or hence. Cartesio: “Cogito ergo sum” is a Latin philosophical proposition by René Descartes usually translated into English…
Patrician (from Latin: patricius) is a term that originally referred to a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. Although the distinction was highly significant in the early republic,…
Ecumenism indicates the complex of projects and efforts for unify believers (more often called “ecumenical movement”) who is devotee to the same God, but often disagree on some interpretations fragmenting into…
Dogma is defined as principles or rules that cannot be questioned, or articles of faith in different religions. a doctrine; tenet; belief doctrines, tenets, or beliefs, collectively a positive,…
writings or statements of dubious authenticity capitalizeda: books included in the Septuagint and Vulgate but excluded from the Jewish and Protestant canons of the Old Testament early Christian writings not…
A part of a country that is surrounded by another country, or a group of people who are different from the people living in the surrounding area. An enclave is…
The word erudition came into Middle English from Latin. A scholar is erudite (Latin eruditus) when instruction and reading followed by digestion and contemplation have effaced all rudeness (e- (ex-)…
Theocracy, according to the dictionary, is the “government of a state by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided.” The Oxford English Dictionary has this…
adj. 1. Of, relating to, or suggestive of war. 2. Relating to or connected with the armed forces or the profession of arms. 3. Characteristic of or befitting a warrior….
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