dogma means an authoritative principle, belief or statement of opinion, especially one considered to be absolutely true and indisputable, regardless of evidence or without evidence to support it. It carries an Arena rating of 1540, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, dogma ranks #684 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #705 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #1,453 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,287 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
dogma is pronounced /ˈdɒɡ.mə/.
Why “dogma” is a great word
An authoritative principle or belief held to be true without evidence or as an article of faith. From Latin dogma ('philosophical tenet'), from Ancient Greek δόγμα (dógma, 'opinion, tenet'), from δοκέω (dokéō, 'to seem good, think'). Unlike 'doctrine' (a set of teachable principles open to discussion) or 'tenet' (a held belief that may not imply imposition), dogma is the unyielding cornerstone—the creed recited in unison, the immutable line drawn in the sand, the locked gate on the path of inquiry. It is belief not as a path but as a boundary, drawn not to guide but to hold.
Etymology
From Latin dogma (“philosophical tenet”), from Ancient Greek δόγμα (dógma, “opinion, tenet”), from δοκέω (dokéō, “to seem good, think”). Treated in the 17th and 18th century as Greek, with plural dogmata. Compare decent.
noun
- An authoritative principle, belief or statement of opinion, especially one considered to be absolutely true and indisputable, regardless of evidence or without evidence to support it.e.g.“If he has a dogma, i.e. a scientifico-philosophical theory, then he is not any sort of Skeptic, not even an urbane Skeptic.” — 2015, Tad Brennan, Ethics and Epistemology in Sextus Empiricus:
- A doctrine (or set of doctrines) relating to matters such as morality and faith, set forth authoritatively by a religious organization or leader.e.g.“In the Catholic Church, new dogmas can only be declared by the pope after the extremely rare procedure ex cathedra to make them part of the official faith.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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