I had a vague recollection (my memory isn’t improving with age<2019 “Recently, under the somewhat unlikely inspiration of Elizabeth Warren [U.S. Senator], some conservatives have revived an old debate: Did millions of women entering the work force actually make families worse off? In her lost days as a heterodox public intellectual, Warren made the case that indeed it did . . . . —The New York Times (New York, New York), 7 May>
) of running into this word before and, sure enough, I found that less than a year ago it appeared in Erik Kowal’s posting Passing English of the Victorian era, a dictionary of heterodox English, slang and phrase (1909) . Incidentally, this book is available at no cost from Kindle and is really very interesting — thumbing through it this morning I found it hard to put down.Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary
heterodox adjective
1) Differing from an established religious point of view [1650]
a) Contrary to acknowledged religious opinion or belief, differing from a religious standard or official position unorthodox, heretical <heterodox sermon>
b) Accepting or teaching heretical or unorthodox opinions or doctrines. <The heterodox opponent of the established religion has often much more real faith than most of its followers.>
2) Lacking the usual content, qualities, or values; not following traditional form or procedure; unconventional [1654] <Some heterodox ideas on books> <The societies representing the orthodox practice of medicine have generally succeeded in keeping … heterodox practitioners out.>
Etymology: Late Latin heterodoxus from Greek heterodoxos, from hetero- heter- + doxa opinion
Antonym: orthodox
Synonyms: dissentient, dissenting, dissident, heretical, iconoclastic, maverick, nonconformist, nonorthodox, out-there, unconventional, unorthodox
______________________________________
The following quotes are from the The Oxford English Dictionary and archived sources:
____________________________<1859 “The Major . . . held some strangely heterodox opinions on the modern education of girls.”—Queen of Hearts by W. Collins, I. page 20>
<1902 “The day being young . . . I ventured on a somewhat heterodox return to Keswick, taking neither the Stainton nor the ordinary Greystroke route.”—The Guardian (London, England), 20 January, page 9>
<1945 “On one important aspect of British economic policy Lord Beaverbrook is decidedly heterodox and in view of his influence in the Government the point may be important.”—The Guardian (London, Greater London, England), 29 May, page 4>
<1987 “Price is also very astute and heterodox in his appraisals of Henry James, . . . , Toni Morrison, . . . , and Ernest Hemingway, whose lifelong subject, he proposes with a certain perverse logic, was ‘saintliness.’”—Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois), 12 December, page 367>
<1998 “Here’s how Howard Gotlieb, the always amusing director of Boston University’s Special Collection Library, explains his heterodox collecting tastes . . .”—The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), 14 August, page 33>
<2012 “His ‘optimistic’ devotion ot new ideas is refreshingly heterodox.”—Calgary Herald (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), 9 January, page 8>
<2019 “Even Mark Zuckerburg [founder & CEO of Facebook] now wants new legislation to limit speech. We’ve gone from wanting information to be free to fearing the heterodox.”—Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut), 5 April, page A7>
Ken Greenwald – May 10, 2019
