anythingarian
English
editEtymology
editFrom anything + -arian, by analogy with unitarian, trinitarian, etc.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editanythingarian (plural anythingarians)
- (derogatory, religion) A person who does not profess any particular creed; an indifferentist.
- ante 1704, The Works of Tom Brown, volume 3, page 97:
- Such bifarious anythingarians, that always make their interest the standard of their religion.
- 1738, Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversation, dialogue 1
- Lady Smart. What Religion is he of?
Ld. Sparkiſh. Why he is an Anythingarian.
Lady Anſw. I believe, he has his Religion to chuſe, my Lord.
- Lady Smart. What Religion is he of?
- 1850, Charles Kingsley, chapter 22, in Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet:
- They made puir Robbie Burns an anythingarian with their blethers.
- ante 1704, The Works of Tom Brown, volume 3, page 97:
Derived terms
edit- anythingarianism (rare)
Related terms
editTranslations
editindifferentist — see indifferentist
References
edit- “anythingarian” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
- Eric Partridge’s Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, seventh edition