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freethinker

 
(frē'thĭng'kər) pronunciation
n.
One who has rejected authority and dogma, especially in religious thinking, in favor of rational inquiry and speculation.

freethinking free'think'ing adj. & n.

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Antonyms by Answers.com:

freethinker

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n

Definition: nonconformist
Antonyms: believer, conformist

Columbia Encyclopedia:

freethinkers

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freethinkers, those who arrive at conclusions, particularly in questions of religion, by employing the rules of reason while rejecting supernatural authority or ecclesiastical tradition. The freethinkers believe that independence of thought from such authority leads all men to essentially identical conclusions concerning morality and religion. The name came into general use in the 18th cent. after the publication (1713) of Anthony Collins's Discourse of Freethinking Occasioned by the Rise and Growth of a Sect Called Freethinkers. The movement took different forms in different countries. In England it was intimately connected with deism but did not break completely with traditional Christianity. It took a more radical form in France. Voltaire renounced all connection with Christianity, and the Encyclopedists broke with religion altogether. Freethinking also has an important social side and influenced the philosophies of the Freemasons and, in France, the Culte de l'Être Suprême. In the United States the organizations established to further freethinking include the American Rationalist Association, the American Secular Union, and the Freethinkers of America. The International Order for Ethics and Culture, organized at Bern in 1908, is designed to investigate the ethical factors in society without theological or metaphysical bias.


Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'freethinker'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to freethinker, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Freethinker.
Translations:

Freethinker

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - fritænker

Nederlands (Dutch)
vrijdenker

Français (French)
n. - libre penseur

Deutsch (German)
n. - Freidenker

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ο ελεύθερα σκεπτόμενος

Italiano (Italian)
libero pensatore

Português (Portuguese)
n. - livre-pensador (m)

Русский (Russian)
вольнодумец, атеист

Español (Spanish)
n. - librepensador

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - fritänkare

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
自由思想家

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 自由思想家

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 자유사상가

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 自由思想家

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الحر الفكر وبخاصه الملحد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮בעל דעה עצמאית, חופשי במחשבותיו‬


 
 

 

Copyrights:

American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms by Answers.com. © 1999-present by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
 Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved.  Read more
Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary. Collins Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary © Anne Bradford, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008 HarperCollins Publishers All rights reserved.  Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

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