atheists

Noun

atheist (plural atheists)

1. A person who does not believe in deities or gods.
   • Atheists. One who does not believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, an atheist, is incompetent as a witness, being incapable of being sworn. […] Changed by Acts of 1851, No. 12 (P. S. 1593), under which, no question can be raised as to a witness's "opinions on matters of religious belief."1910, The Vermont Digest 1789-1905, volume 2, Burlington: Free Press Printing Co

   Synonyms:

   nullifidian

   1. (strictly) A person who is certain that no deities exist or who thinks that the existence of deities can be disproven.
      • Ageine, the Atheistes, which say in their hartes there is no God; […]1571 October 20, Arthur Golding, “The Epistle Dedicatory”, in Psalmes of Dauid and others, with M. John Caluin's Commentaries
   2. (broadly) A person who doubts the existence of deities (therefore, an agnostic may be considered an atheist).
      • Minister—Are you really an Atheist?
        Atheist—Yes.
        M.—Do you deny that there is a god?
        A.—No. I deny that there is sufficient reason to believe there is one. There may be a god, but I think it rather unlikely.1843, G. J. Holyoake, “A Reciprocal Dialogue”, in Thomas Paterson, editors, The Oracle of Reason, Or, Philosophy Vindicated, volume 2, number 64, page 89
   3. (very broadly) Any person lacking belief in deities (including children who are unaware of religion).
      • All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God. Are they then criminal on account of their ignorance?1772, Good Sense without God: Or Freethoughts Opposed to Supernatural Ideas, London: W. Stewart, translation of Le Bon-Sens, ou, Idées Naturelles opposées aux Idées Surnaturelles by Paul Henry Thiry...
2. (uncommon) A person who does not believe in a particular deity (but may believe in another deity).
   • Malice and prejudice concurred in representing the Christians as a society of atheists, who, by the most daring attack on the religious constitution of the empire, had merited the severest animadversion of the civil magistrate.1840, Edward Gibbon, chapter 16, in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, new edition, volume 1, page 183
3. (proscribed, sometimes) A person who does not believe in any religion (not even a religion without gods); a nonreligious person.
   • This is one of the strongest Grounds of Suspicion to me, and assures me that he has very little Regard to Religion in general; that he can pretend to marry you, and know nothing whether you are a Heathen or Christian; an Atheist or religious Person, a Papist or a Protestant; the Man can have no...1766, Daniel Defoe, Religious Courtship..., 9th edition, London, page 170

See all 8 meanings of atheist