Religion

How to spell religion

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce religion

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does religion mean?

1. nounA system of faith and worship, or a personal set of beliefs about the divine.

Religion in a sentence

• The survey asked respondents to state their religion on the form.

• Comparative religion is a popular elective at the university.

Where does religion come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin religio, which described a sense of obligation, awe, or scrupulous devotion toward the gods. Most scholars trace it to the verb religare, meaning literally 'to bind fast' or 'to tie back', formed from re- and ligare 'to bind', the same root that gives us 'ligament' and 'ligature'. The image is of a person bound by sacred duty, though even the Roman writer Cicero suggested a slightly different link to relegere 'to read over again' in the sense of carefully observing ritual. English took the word in around 1200 by way of Old French religion, at first meaning life under monastic vows before it broadened to mean a system of belief and worship. The single 'l' and the soft 'g' that sounds like 'j' are the usual spelling traps, both of which the Latin lig root quietly explains.

How the word is built

• re- (again/intensive)
• lig (to bind, from Latin ligare)
• -ion (noun-forming suffix)