iconoclast

C2 Topic:Religion & Belief
US /aɪˈkɑn.əˌklæst/ UK /aɪˈkɒn.əˌklæst/
noun Freq #87481

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    One who destroys religious images or icons, especially an opponent of the Orthodox Church in the 8th and 9th centuries, or a Puritan during the European Reformation.

    In the days of the early Christian church, people who opposed the veneration (reverence) of images were called iconoclasts.

Thesaurus

Word family
Related forms antidogmatismclastclasticcontrariandissenterfreethinkerheresiarchhereticiconiconoclasmiconoclasticnonconformist

Etymology

Borrowed from French iconoclaste and its etymon Medieval Latin īconoclastēs, from Byzantine Greek εἰκονοκλάστης (eikonoklástēs, literally “image breaker”). By surface analysis, icono- + -clast.

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