Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definitions: Blasphemy |
BlasphemyNoun1. Blasphemous language (expressing disrespect for God or for something sacred). 2. Blasphemous behavior. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "blasphemy" was first used: 12th century. (references) |
Etymology: Blasphemy \Blas"phe*my\, noun. [Latin expression blasphemia: compare to Old French expression blasphemie.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Bible | Blasphemy In the sense of speaking evil of God this word is found in Ps. 74:18; Isa. 52:5; Rom. 2:24; Rev. 13:1, 6; 16:9, 11, 21. It denotes also any kind of calumny, or evil-speaking, or abuse (1 Kings 21:10; Acts 13:45; 18:6, etc.). Our Lord was accused of blasphemy when he claimed to be the Son of God (Matt. 26:65; comp. Matt. 9:3; Mark 2:7). They who deny his Messiahship blaspheme Jesus (Luke 22:65; John 10:36). Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost (Matt. 12:31, 32; Mark 3:28, 29; Luke 12:10) is regarded by some as a continued and obstinate rejection of the gospel, and hence is an unpardonable sin, simply because as long as a sinner remains in unbelief he voluntarily excludes himself from pardon. Others regard the expression as designating the sin of attributing to the power of Satan those miracles which Christ performed, or generally those works which are the result of the Spirit's agency. Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. |
| To dream you are cursing yourself, means evil fortune. To dream you are cursed by others, signifies relief through affection and prosperity. The interpretation of this dream here given is not satisfactory. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The public domain 1913 Webster's Unabridged Dictionary defines blasphemy as:
There has been a recent tendency in Western countries towards the repeal or reform of blasphemy laws, and these laws are only infrequently enforced where they exist. Such laws still exist in several countries, such as Spain (Article 525 of the criminal code), Germany (Article 166 of the criminal code), and Italy. In the United States, the First Amendment guarantees a relatively unlimited right of free speech, although some US states still have blasphemy laws on the books. Chapter 272 of Massachusetts' criminal code states, for example:
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Blasphemy."
Synonyms: BlasphemySynonyms: desecration (n), profanation (n), sacrilege (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Impiety | Noun: impiety; sin; irreverence; profaneness; Adjective: profanity, profanation; blasphemy, desecration, sacrilege; scoffing;Verb: |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Blasphemy |
| Specialty definitions using "blasphemy": Blasphemy. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | That includes blasphemy as well! (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels; writing credit: Guy Ritchie) This taking of of other planets it's almost like an act of blasphemy. (Conquest of Space; writing credit: Chesley Bonestell; Willy Ley) Sir, you speak blasphemy! (Tuck Everlasting; writing credit: Jeffrey Lieber) Blasphemy! Oh, you'll smoke a turd in hell for that! (The Survivors; writing credit: Michael Leeson) | |
Lyrics | At the blasphemy in my old jangly walk (Thirty-Three; performing artist: The smashing pumpkins) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Alistair Cooke | Washington's birthday is as close to a secular Christmas as any Christian country dare come this side of blasphemy. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Civil Liberties | Pakistan | However, Nawaz and his two sons were arrested and charged with blasphemy. (references) |
Pakistan | Several days later, they were released on bail; the blasphemy case against them remained pending at year's end. (references) | |
Pakistan | On April 1, police registered a blasphemy case against Pervez Masih, a Christian teacher in Sialkot District, Punjab. (references) | |
Human Rights | Pakistan | Under the ordinances, many blasphemy cases now are tried by antiterrorist courts. (references) |
Pakistan | Human rights advocates feared that if blasphemy cases were tried in the antiterrorist courts, alleged blasphemers, who in the past normally were granted bail or released for lack of evidence, likely would be convicted, given the less stringent rules of evidence required under the Anti-Terrorist Act. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Blasphemy" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Blasphemy" is used about 145 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 145 | 26,217 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
digital blasphemy | 1,036 |
blasphemy | 121 |
blasphemy recording virulent | 25 |
against blasphemy holy spirit | 16 |
blasphemy holy spirit | 13 |
blasphemy digital wallpaper | 6 |
blasphemy digital password | 5 |
3d blasphemy | 5 |
blasphemy ghost holy | 4 |
blasphemy define | 3 |
blasphemy throne | 3 |
blasphemy wallpaper | 3 |
2 blasphemy lyrics pac | 2 |
blasphemy com digital | 2 |
blasphemy lyrics | 2 |
almighty blasphemy bruce | 2 |
blasphemy definition | 2 |
blasphemy digital image | 2 |
against blasphemy ghost holy | 2 |
black blasphemy metal | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "blasphemy"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | blasfemi (profanity), sharje e zotit. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | الكفر (atheism, faithless), التجديف. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | клевети (muck, obloquy), богохулство (oath, profanity, swear). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 褻瀆的話 , 亵渎 (Profanity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | rouhání (curse). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | vloek, vervloeking, godslastering. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | blasfemo. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | ناسزا(گوءی), کفر (Atheism, Heresy, Infidelity, Profanity), توهین به مقدسات (Sacrilege). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | jumalanpilkka, häväistys (affront, insult, profanation, violation). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | blasphème. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frisian | flok. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | gotteslästerung (profanity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | βεβήλωση (defilement, desecration, profanation, sacrilegiousness, violation), βλασφημία (curse, cuss, profanity, swearing). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | חלול "שם (libel), חרוף (abuse, curse, invective), '"וף (abuse, curse, insult, invective, obloquy, profanity, revilement, scorn, swearword, vilification, vituperation), אוץ (abuse, cursing, execration, profanity, reviling), אצ" (abuse, contempt, swearword). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | istenkáromlás (profanities, profanity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | penghinaan (abjection, disdain, disparagement, humiliation, indignity, sebasement), pemfitnahan (aspersion, calumniation, defamation, libeling, slandering), hujatan. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | bestemmia (curse, nonsense, oath, swear word). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 涜神 , '涜 (curse, desecration, profanity, sacrilege), 'とく (curse, desecration, profanity, sacrilege), 不敬 (disrespect, impiety, irreverence, profanity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | ぼうとく (curse, desecration, profanity, sacrilege), ふけい (agnate, castration, disrespect, guardians, impiety, irreverence, parents and older brothers, policewoman, prefectural police, profanity), とくし" (being convinced of, being satisfied, consenting to, devotion, devoutness, special promotion, understanding). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | peccah noi'n Spyrrd Noo, mollaghtoil (blasphemous), goan mollaghtagh, ard-vollaght (execration, malediction). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | asphemyblay blasfêmia (curse, profanity, swearing). (various references) blestem (ban, calamity, cancer, curse, damn, damnation, execration, hardship, imprecation, malediction, offence, perdition), blasfemie, hulã (backbiting, calumny, curse, defamation, ground swell, hula-hoop, impiety, slander, swell), fãrãdelege (misdeed, sacrilege, trespass). (various references) кощунство (sacrilege), богохульство (oath, profanity). (various references) blaisbheum. (various references) bogohuljenje. (various references) blasfemia (oath, profanity). (various references) ukufuru. (various references) hädelse. (various references) küfür (a bad word, abuse, contumely, curse, cuss, cuss word, expletive, invective, invectives, oath, profanity, revilement, scurrility, strong language, swearing, swearword), dine küfretme. (various references) блюзнірство (sacrilege). (various references) lời báng bổ. (various references) cabledd, cabl (reviling). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | blasphemia. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | blasphematio, blasphemia, blasphemiae, blasphemiam, blasphemias, blasphemiis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Mark Chapter 7, Verse 22 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Klopai pleonexiai ponhriai doloV aselgeia ofqalmoV ponhroV blasfhmia uperhfania afrosunh |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Furta avaritiae nequitiae dolus inpudicitia oculus malus blasphemia superbia stultitia |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | Stale. gytsunge. man facnu. scamelest.yfel ge-sihðe. desynysse. ofer-modignessa.stunt-scipe. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | Fornycaciouns, mansleyingis, theftis, auaricis, wickidnessis, gile, vnchastite, yuel iye, blasfemyes, pride, foli. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | Theeft coveteousnes wickednes diceyte vnclennes and a wicked eye blasphemy pryde folysshnes: |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | The taking of goods and of life, broken faith between husband and wife, the desire of wealth, wrongdoing, deceit, sins of the flesh, an evil eye, angry words, pride, foolish acts: |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Mark Chapter 7, Verse 22 |
| Cebuano | kaibog, kadautan, limbong, kaulag, kasina, panulti sa pagbuling sa dungog, pagkamapahitas-on, binoang, |
| Croatian | preljubi, lakomstva, opakosti, prijevara, razuzdanost, zlo oko, psovka, uznositost, bezumlje. |
| Danish | Hor, Havesyge, Ondskab, Svig, Uterlighed, et ondt Øje, Forhånelse, Hovmod, Fremfusenhed; |
| Dutch | Dieverijen, gierigheden, boosheden, bedrog, ontuchtigheid, een boos oog, lastering, hovaardij, onverstand. |
| Finnish | aviorikokset, ahneus, häijyys, petollisuus, irstaus, pahansuonti, jumalanpilkka, ylpeys, mielettömyys. |
| French | les vols, les cupidités, les méchancetés, la fraude, le dérèglement, le regard envieux, la calomnie, l`orgueil, la folie. |
| Gaelic | Goid, sannt, drochbheart, foill, mi-gheamnachd, droch-shuil, blaisbheum, uabhar, aimideachd. |
| German | Dieberei, Geiz, Schalkheit, List, Unzucht, Schalksauge, Gotteslästerung, Hoffart, Unvernunft. |
| Hungarian | Lopások, telhetetlenségek, gonoszságok, álnokság, szemérmetlenség, gonosz szem, káromlás, kevélység, bolondság: |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | berzinah, menipu, memfitnah, serta melakukan segala sesuatu yang jahat, menjadi serakah, tidak sopan, iri hati, sombong, dan susah diajar. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | permukahan, kekikiran, kejahatan, tipu, hawa nafsu jahat, mata jahat, hujat, congkak, kebodohan. |
| Italian | adultèri, cupidigie, malvagit , inganno, impudicizia, invidia, calunnia, superbia, stoltezza. |
| Latvian | Zâdzîbas, mantkârîba, blçdîbas, viltîba, nekaunîba, skaudîga acs, Dieva zaimoðana, lepnîba, vieglprâtîba. |
| Maori | O nga tahae, o nga kohuru, o nga puremu, o nga hiahia apo, o nga kino, o te tinihanga, o te hiahia taikaha, o te kanohi kino, o te kohukohu, o te whakapehapeha, o te wairangi: |
| Norwegian | hor, havesyke, ondskap, svik, skamløshet, ondt øie, bespottelse, overmot, uforstand. |
| Portuguese | a cobiça, as maldades, o dolo, a libertinagem, a inveja, a blasfêmia, a soberba, a insensatez; |
| Rumanian | furtiwagurile, lqcomiile, viclewugurile, knwelqciunile, faptele de ruwine, ochiul rqu, hula, trufia, nebunia. |
| Russian | ЛТБЦЙ, МЙИПЙНУФЧП, ЪМП'Б, ЛПЧБТУФЧП, ОЕ ПФТЕ'УФЧП, ЪБЧЙУФМЙЧПЕ ПЛП, 'ПЗПИХМШУФЧП, ЗПТ"ПУФШ, 'ЕЪХНУФЧП, -- |
| Shuar | kasamkatniusha, chikichna wakeruktincha, pénkercha Túratniusha, anankatniusha, natsantain átincha, yajauch Enentáimtustincha, tsanumpratniusha, waantu Enentáimtumastincha, netse Túratniusha, Ashí nuka initia wininiatsuk. |
| Spanish | los adulterios, las avaricias, las maldades, el engaño, la sensualidad, la envidia, la blasfemia, la insolencia y la insensatez. |
| Swahili | uzinzi, uchoyo, uovu, udanganyifu, ufisadi, wivu, kashfa, kiburi na upumbavu. |
| Swedish | äktenskapsbrott, girighet, ondska, svek, lösaktighet, avund, hädelse, övermod, oförsynt väsende. |
| Uma | mobualo', mebagiu, metipo', pai' mpobabehi wori' nyala to dada'a. Mpokahina anu doo, mohingi', molangko nono, nakeni hina nono to dada'a, uma tuduia'. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Misspellings | |
"Blasphemy" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: basphemy, blasephemy, blashemy, blashphemy, blaspemy, blasphamy, blasphemey, blasphemoy, blasphemyu, blaspheny, blasphimy, blasphmey, blasphmy, blasphomy, blasthemy, Blazheni, Bleasham, Blisham. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "blasphemy" (pronounced bla"sfumē) |
| 4 | -f u m ē | infamy. |
| 3 | -u m ē | academy, alchemy, anatomy, anomie, appendectomy, Archenemy, astronomy, autonomy, dichotomy, economy, enemy, epitome, gastronomy, hysterectomies, hysterectomy, keratotomy, lumpectomy, mastectomy, monogamy, polygamy, prostatectomy, sesame, sodomy, tonsillectomy, vasectomy. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-b-e-h-l-m-p-s-y" | |
-2 letters: shamble, shapely. | |
-3 letters: alephs, almehs, ambles, basely, belays, blames, blypes, embays, lymphs, maples, maybes, measly, phylae, plashy, sample, shaley. | |
-4 letters: ables, abyes, abysm, aleph, almeh, almes, amble, ample, amply, amyls, bales, balms, balmy, beams, beamy, belay, bemas, blahs, blame, blams, blase, blype, embay, ephas, haems, hales, halms, hames, haply, heals, heaps, helms, helps. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-b-e-h-l-m-p-s-y" | |
+3 letters: imperishably. | |
+4 letters: blasphemously. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)42 6C 61 73 70 68 65 6D 79 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-... .-.. .- ... .--. .... . -- -.--. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000010 01101100 01100001 01110011 01110000 01101000 01100101 01101101 01111001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)B l a s p h e m y |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0042 006C 0061 0073 0070 0068 0065 006D 0079 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)367867858274717991 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Quotations: Familiar 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Bible Trace | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Orthography | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.