heathendom

Noun

heathendom (usually uncountable, plural heathendoms)

1. (usually) The state of being heathen.
   • The priest argued to the king that unless clerics accompanied the colony ship, the colony would soon descend into heathendom and barbarity.
2. (usually) From one religion's or creed's perspective, the rest of the world that does not follow that creed or religion.
   • My aunt considered all of Europe to be heathendom, and refused to visit us in Amsterdam on religious grounds.
3. (dated, usually) Specifically, the non-Christian world; territories where Christianity is not the dominant religion.
   • The Crusaders meant to wrest Jerusalem from heathendom, but they managed to pillage a number of lands in Christendom along the way.
4. (Germanic, capitalized, sometimes, usually) The collection of people who follow Heathenry, a modern pagan faith inspired by the pre-Abrahamic religions of Germanic tribes, Anglo-Saxons and Norse peoples.
   • Ziegenbalg mentioned some major forms of heathendom (African, American, old European)[…]2011, Urs App, The Birth of Orientalism, page 102