I. ˈherəˌtik noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English eretik, heretik, from Middle French eretique, heretique, adjective & noun, from Late Latin haereticus, from Late Greek hairetikos, from Greek, able to choose, from hairetos (verbal of hairein to take, haireisthai to choose) + -ikos -ic
1.
a. : a dissenter from established church dogma : deviationist — distinguished from infidel
b. : a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church who deliberately and obstinately disavows a revealed truth
2. : one that dissents from an accepted belief or doctrine of any kind : innovator , nonconformist
to delete from history its heretics and its radicals would be to deprive it of that rare quality known as independence of mind — F.C.Neff
he who resists a mania may be trodden under foot like any other heretic — W.G.Sumner
II. “, hə̇ˈred.]ik, heˈ-, -ret], ]ēk\ adjective
Etymology: Middle English eretik, heretik, from Middle French eretique, heretique
: heretical