Home › Glossary › Letter H

heresy

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A belief or opinion that goes against accepted religious teaching.

Detailed Definition
Heresy is a term from religion for a doctrine judged to be wrong or contrary to official belief. In poetry, it can also suggest spiritual doubt or rebellion against accepted truth.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Yet here I am, existing with ignorance and heresy” uses heresy for belief judged contrary to accepted religious doctrine; “The monk copied his heresy in margins no abbot saw” creates a historical religious context; “To call silence heresy is metaphorical, making dissent a spiritual charge”; “In modern poems, heresy can praise intellectual independence while retaining its history of persecution”
Additional Notes
"heresy" is a specialized religious term in the quoted line, not just a general everyday word.; Found in the poem, Song of Man by Kahlil Gibran
Also Known As
dissent deviation unorthodoxy
Skip to main content