I was thinking, that many people may be confused on what atheist because of its construction. I think it is wrong.

For example, the Spanish word for atheist is ateo not
ateista like budista (Buddhist)

This is what -ist means according to wikipedia:

-ist is an English suffix denoting a person - it describes that person's chief duty, or belief. For example, a socialist is a person who believes in the tenets of socialism; a sexist is a person who believes that one sex or gender is superior to the other; and a receptionist is a person who performs duties in the reception area of an office. Other examples are listed below.

It is closely related to the suffix -ism, though there is not a one-to-one relationship between them. For example, there is vandalism but not vandalist, and canoeist but not canoeism.


Curiously 'atheist' is listed as an example which I disagree.

In my opinion an atheist is someone who does not believe as oposed to someone who "believes in not-believing"

P.S. I think this is more relevant here than in CL

And that's what the "a" stands for. It means he's not a theist.

"a" against.. Yes. Like he said^.

ok but then is a(theist) not (athe)ist. I may be wrong but atheist sounds me like someone who 'spreads' "atheism"

ok but then is a(theist) not (athe)ist. I may be wrong but atheist sounds me like someone who 'spreads' "atheism"

No, atheist is a-theist. The only one linguistically confused here is you.

In my opinion an atheist is someone who does not believe as oposed to someone who "believes in not-believing"
I think you're right, but as Hare_Geist notes, it's a-theist - not athe-ist. I believe the word reflects the reality, but people do get confused and interpret it as "someone who 'believes in not-believing'".

No, atheist is a-theist. The only one linguistically confused here is you.

Nothing more than this needs to be said. Learn the definitions of suffixes, prefixes, and root words and all will be revealed.

Learn the definitions of suffixes, prefixes, and root words and all will be revealed.

I don't know why you say this, this thread shows that I do know them. Notice that according to Hare Geist, atheist is an example of the use of the a- prefix and theist would be the example of the usage of -ist suffix.

... atheist is an example of the use of the a- prefix and theist would be the example of the usage of -ist suffix.

atheist is an example of both affixes (i.e. a- and -ist).

a- : not

the-: the morpheme derives from Greek word "theos" which means god or deity.

-ist: believer.

Thus "atheist" would mean: not a god believer.

"theist" would mean: god believer.

all that aside, people still thinks it means you worship the devil. lol

Some muslim at my work thought that. I made a remark about stupid christians, he asked me what my religion was and I said nothing, I'm an atheist. "your the devil?" he said.

I think he went home and looked it up because today somebody was talking about religion and I made some remark about how its all a pile of shit and he said well you dont believe in any god.

"a" against..

"A" meaning "without". important distinction.

ok but then is a(theist) not (athe)ist. I may be wrong but atheist sounds me like someone who 'spreads' "atheism"

It's (a)(the)(ist)

A denotes lack of, the comes from theos, which means God, and you obviously know what -ism means.

privative ἀ- + θεός + ismos = atheism.

an atheist lacks a belief in god or gods.

/thread

An asexual person/being is a person being that does not associate itself with sex.

An atheist is someone who does not associate itself with a theist (religious) belief.

The word "atheist" contains three morphemes... Just break it down to its components and it's pretty simple.