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Pious vs Spiritual - What's the difference?

pious | spiritual |

As an adjective pious

is of or pertaining to piety, exhibiting piety, devout, godfearing.

As a noun spiritual is

(christianity|historical) a member of a branch of the franciscan order who advocated simple dress and renounced the owning of property.

pious

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Of or pertaining to piety, exhibiting piety, devout, godfearing.
  • * 2014, (Paul Salopek), Blessed. Cursed. Claimed. , National Geographic (December 2014)[http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/pilgrim-roads/salopek-text]
    • Its male residents dress like crows: heavy black suits, black Borsalino hats, the old grandfathers hugely whiskered and the boys in peot, the curled sidelocks of the pious .

    Usage notes

    * Sometimes used pejoratively, in the sense of "mistaken" or "false" piety, as in "pious errors", "pious frauds".

    Synonyms

    * reverent, reverential, dutiful, religious, devout, godly

    Antonyms

    * (of or pertaining to piety) impious, independent, profane

    Derived terms

    * piously * piousness

    Related terms

    * piety

    spiritual

    English

    Alternative forms

    * spirituall, spirytual, spirytuall, spyritual, spyrituall, spyrytual, spyrytuall

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul.
    • Respect towards ancestors is an essential part of Thai spiritual practice.
  • * Sir Thomas Browne
    • God's law is spiritual ; it is a transcript of the divine nature, and extends its authority to the acts of the soul of man.
  • Of or pertaining to God or a place of worship; sacred.
  • Of or pertaining to spirits; supernatural.
  • Consisting of spirit; not material; incorporeal.
    • a spiritual substance or being
  • * Bible, 1. Corinthians xv. 44
    • It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
  • Of or relating to the intellectual and higher endowments of the mind; mental; intellectual.
  • (Christianity) Controlled and inspired by the Holy Spirit; pure; holy.
  • * Bible, Gal. vi. 1
    • If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual , restore such an one.
  • Not lay or temporal; relating to sacred things; ecclesiastical.
    • the spiritual''' functions of the clergy; lords '''spiritual''' and temporal; a '''spiritual corporation

    Derived terms

    * antispiritual * antispiritualism * antispirituality * spiritual desertion * spiritualism * spiritualist * spirituality * spiritually

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A Christian religious song, especially one in an African-American style, or a similar non-religious song.
  • Any spiritual function, office, or affair.
    • He assigns supremacy to the pope in spirituals , and to the emperor in temporals. — Lowell.