English▸ noun a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions:
a Muslim majority had to live in close proximity to large communities of Christians and pagans.
▪ dated, derogatory a non-Christian.
▪ an adherent of neopaganism.
▸ adjective relating to pagans:
a pagan god.
– ORIGIN late Middle English : from Latin paganus ‘villager, rustic’, from pagus ‘country district’. Latin paganus also meant ‘civilian’, becoming, in Christian Latin, ‘heathen’ (i.e. one not enrolled in the army of Christ).