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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Heathen \Hea"then\ (h[=e]"[th]'n; 277), noun; pl. {Heathens} (-[th]'nz) or collectively {Heathen}. [OE. hethen, AS. h[=ae][eth]en, prop. an adjective fr. h[=ae][eth] heath, and orig., therefore, one who lives in the country or on the heaths and in the woods (cf. pagan, fr. pagus village); akin to OS. h[=e][eth]in, adjective, D. heiden a heathen, G. heide, OHG. heidan, Icel. hei[eth]inn, adjective, Sw. heden, Goth. hai[thorn]n[=o], noun fem. See {Heath}, and cf. {Hoiden}.]
1. An individual of the pagan or unbelieving nations, or those which worship idols and do not acknowledge the true God; a pagan; an idolater.
2. An irreligious person.
If it is no more than a moral discourse, he may preach it and they may hear it, and yet both continue unconverted heathens. --V. Knox.
{The heathen}, as the term is used in the Scriptures, all people except the Jews; now used of all people except Christians, Jews, and Mohammedans.
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. --Ps. ii. 8.
Syn: Pagan; gentile. See {Pagan}.
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