Noun

(en noun)

(narrowly) Belief that no deities exist (sometimes including rejection of other religious beliefs).

* {{quote-magazine, year = 2002

, title = Should atheists be agnostics? , first = Michael , last = Martin , magazine = The Philosophers' Magazine , editor = Baggini, Julian , issue = 19 , issn = 1354-814X , page = 18 , archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20021220073331/http://www.philosophers.co.uk/portal_article.php?id=583 , passage = For atheism' to be rationally justified it is only necessary that it be more probable than not or at least more probable than theism. Certainty is no more required in the case of ' atheism than it is in the case of scientific theories. }}

(broadly) Rejection of belief that any deities exist (with or without a belief that no deities exist).

* {{quote-book, year = 1857

, title = Modern Atheism: under its forms of Pantheism, Materialism, Secularism, Development, and Natural Laws , first = James , last = Buchanan , authorlink = James Buchanan (minister) , location = Boston , publisher = Gould and Lincoln , page = 365 , url = http://books.google.com/books?id=wsoVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA365&dq=atheism , passage = The theory of Secularism is a form, not of dogmatic'', but of ''skeptical'', Atheism ; it is dogmatic only in ''denying the sufficiency of the evidence for the being and perfections of God. It does not deny, it only does not believe, His existence. }}

* {{quote-book, year = 1896

, title = Theism or Athiesm: Which is the more reasonable? , first = George William , last = Foote , authorlink = George William Foote , coauthor = Lee, W. T. , publisher = R. Forder , location = London , page = 17 , chapter = First Night , url = http://books.google.com/books?id=91AQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA17 , passage = ...but Atheism per se simply means, not denial, but rejection, in the sense of not accepting the Theistic theory of the universe which Mr. Lee has put forward tonight. }}

(very broadly) Absence of belief that any deities exist (including absence of the concept of deities).

* {{quote-book, year = 1829

, first = John , last = Wesley , title = Sermons, on Several Occasions , edition = 10th , volume = 2 , page = 373 , passage = What can parents do, and mothers more especially, with regard to the atheism that is natural to all the children of men? }}

* {{quote-book, year = 1979

, first = George H. , last = Smith , authorlink = George H. Smith , title = , publisher = Prometheus , location = Buffalo, New York , isbn = 978-0879751241 , lccn = 79002726 , id = , page = 7 , passage = Atheism , in its basic form, is not a belief; it is the absence of belief.'' An atheist is not primarily a person who ''believes'' that a god does ''not'' exist; rather, he does ''not believe in the existence of a god. }}

(loosely, uncommon) Absence of belief in a particular deity, pantheon, or religious doctrine (notwithstanding belief in other deities).

* {{quote-book, year = 1995

, title = The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism , editor = McBrien, Richard P. , section = keyword Domitilla, Flavia , publisher = HarperCollins , isbn = 9780060653385 , page = 431 , url = http://books.google.com/books?id=WlNfJC6RveAC&pg=PA431 , passage = Domitilla, Flavia , niece of the emperor Domitian (81-96). She and her husband, Flavius Clemens (consul in 95 and cousin of Domitian), were probably Christians; charged with atheism and adoption of Jewish ways, they were punished (95) with death (Clemens) and exile (Domitilla). }}

* {{quote-book, year = 2010

, first = Ross , last = Thompson , title = Buddhist Christianity: A Passionate Openness , publisher = O-Books , isbn = 978-1846943362 , page = 260 , url = http://books.google.com/books?id=NeWEQWx9pAgC&pg=260&q=atheism , passage = Sacrificial religion becomes redundant – which is why Christianity did indeed have a reputation in the ancient world for atheism : it rejected the key duty humans are thought to owe to the gods, namely sacrifice. }}