Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Heathen \Hea"then\ (?; 277), n.; pl. {Heathens}or collectively
   {Heathen}. [OE. hethen, AS. h??en, prop. an adj. fr. h??
   heath, and orig., therefore, one who lives in the country or
   on the heaths and in the woods (cf. pagan, fr. pagus
   village); akin to OS. h??in, adj., D. heiden a heathen, G.
   heide, OHG. heidan, Icel. hei?inn, adj., Sw. heden, Goth.
   haipn?, n. fem. See {Heath}, and cf. {Hoiden}.]
   1. An individual of the pagan or unbelieving nations, or
      those which worship idols and do not acknowledge the true
      God; a pagan; an idolater.

   2. An irreligious person.

            If it is no more than a moral discourse, he may
            preach it and they may hear it, and yet both
            continue unconverted heathens.        --V. Knox.

   {The heathen}, as the term is used in the Scriptures, all
      people except the Jews; now used of all people except
      Christians, Jews, and Mohammedans.

            Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for
            thine inheritance.                    --Ps. ii. 8.

   Syn: Pagan; gentile. See {Pagan}.