- heretic (n.)
- "one who holds a doctrine at variance with established or dominant standards," mid-14c., from Old French eretique (14c., Modern French hérétique), from Church Latin haereticus "of or belonging to a heresy," as a noun, "a heretic," from Greek hairetikos "able to choose" (in the New Testament, "heretical"), verbal adjective of hairein (see heresy).
