Etymology

Noun

1. Absence of, or rejection of, belief in the existence of God or gods.
2. The belief that there are no gods, the denial of the existence of God or gods.

Usage notes

• The term may refer either to an explicit belief that God or gods do not exist (sense 2 above), or to the mere lack of an explicit belief that God or gods do exist (sense 1 above). Some speakers do not distinguish between these senses; others distinguish them by using the terms and (respectively), or by using to mean “strong atheism” and or to mean “weak atheism”. (Similar distinctions may be drawn for related terms, such as .) The distinction between and tends to be made primarily by themselves.

Related terms

• atheist
• atheistic
• atheistical

• atheistically
• atheophobia

See also

• agnosticism
• atheonism
• athean
• atheal
• deism

• theism
• monotheism
• polytheism
• pantheism
• panentheism