This blog post will focus on the etymology and historical usage of the word ‘pagan’. If you would like more information about what constitutes a pagan religion today, please visit the What is Paganism? section of the PAN website.
There is consensus among pagans, scholars and amateur historians that the word pagan comes from the Latin word paganus which means country dweller (Marriam-Webster 2017; Cavendish & Conneeley 2012; Boin 2014; Wikipedia 2017).