mysticism

English

Etymology

English from the early to mid 1700's, Confer French mysticisme.

Pronunciation
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Noun

mysticism (countable and uncountable, plural mysticisms)

  1. The beliefs, ideas, or thoughts of mystics.
  2. A doctrine of direct communication or spiritual intuition of divine truth.
    • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture I:
      In the history of Christian mysticism the problem how to discriminate between such messages and experiences as were really divine miracles, and such others as the demon in his malice was able to counterfeit, thus making the religious person twofold more the child of hell he was before, has always been a difficult one to solve, needing all the sagacity and experience of the best directors of conscience.
  3. A transcendental union of soul or mind with the divine reality or divinity.
  4. Obscure thoughts and speculations.

Antonyms

Translations
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References
  • mysticism in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
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