Dog·ma n.; pl. E. Dogmas L. Dogmata
1. That which is held as an opinion; a tenet; a doctrine.
The obscure and loose dogmas of early antiquity. -- Whewell.
2. A formally stated and authoritatively settled doctrine; a definite, established, and authoritative tenet.
3. A doctrinal notion asserted without regard to evidence or truth; an arbitrary dictum.
Syn: -- tenet; opinion; proposition; doctrine.
Usage: -- Dogma, Tenet. A tenet is that which is maintained as true with great firmness; as, the tenets of our holy religion. A dogma is that which is laid down with authority as indubitably true, especially a religious doctrine; as, the dogmas of the church. A tenet rests on its own intrinsic merits or demerits; a dogma rests on authority regarded as competent to decide and determine. Dogma has in our language acquired, to some extent, a repulsive sense, from its carrying with it the idea of undue authority or assumption. This is more fully the case with its derivatives dogmatical and dogmatism.
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dogma
n 1: a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without
proof [syn: tenet]
2: a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative; "he
believed all the Marxist dogma"
[also: dogmata (pl)]