doctrine

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A belief or tenet, especially about philosophical or theological matters.

   The Incarnation is a basic doctrine of Christianity.

2. 2
   noun

   The body of teachings of an ideology, most often a religion, or of an ideological or religious leader, organization, group, or text.

   What is the understanding of marriage and family in orthodox Marxist doctrine?

3. 3
   noun

   A self-imposed policy governing some aspect of a country's foreign relations, especially regarding what sort of behavior it will or will not tolerate from other countries.

   the Monroe Doctrine the Brezhnev Doctrine the Negroponte Doctrine

4. 4
   noun

   a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin doctrina (“teaching, instruction, learning, knowledge”), from doctor (“a teacher”), from docere (“to teach”); see doctor.