The English Oxford Dictionary defines 'atheist' like this:
atheist
Syllabification: a·the·ist
Pronunciation: ˈāTHēəst
noun: A person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods.
Merriam-Webster has a slightly different take:
atheist
noun athe·ist ˈā-thē-ist\
a person who believes that God does not exist.
Change the final 't' to an 'm', and definitions subtly skew even further:
Oxford:
atheism
Syllabification: a·the·ism
Pronunciation: ˈāTHēˌizəm
noun: Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.
Merriam-Webster:
Definition of ATHEISM
1 archaic : ungodliness, wickedness
2 a : a disbelief in the existence of deity
b : the doctrine that there is no deity
I've spent many, many hours defending and refining my definition of what an atheist is, often resorting to "Tell me what your definition of an atheist is and I'll tell you if I am one."
Here's mine:
atheist (small 'a' always, we're not that big of a deal)
Pronunciation: (Whatever, I get the drift but I'm partial to a-theist, like apolitical or amoral for reasons you will discover)
noun: (duh!) A person who does not believe gods exist. (That's as simple as I can be and still be clear)
atheism (still, not that big of a deal)
Pronunciation: (Same-same)
noun: (Yup) The position/concept/idea of not believing gods exist. (Same-same but different!)
The differences in wording between each of these two sources and my own are minor, sometimes subtle, but have implications and connotations that render a plea to use dictionary definitions almost useless, at least for me. My rule of thumb is "Use the 1st definition for the part of speech you are using" but this can be problematic as well (ex: "1 archaic : ungodliness, wickedness" - PU-
LEEESE! I don't
think so.) I do dictionary dissections and autopsies occasionally to clarify my understanding of what the hell I'm trying to say, but this particular inquiry has been somewhat daunting.
Let me hurry past the Tilt-A-Whirl while you scrub up and you can help me open this thing up and see what we can see...
The most obvious place to start is to examine the need, the reason for the existence of the word atheism. That's a short hop to it's root, the word theism, it's derivation theist, and the first cut: Mind the blood...
Oxford:
theism
Syllabification: the·ism
Pronunciation: ˈTHēˌizəm
noun: Belief in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in one god as creator of the universe, intervening in it and sustaining a personal relation to his creatures. Compare with deism.
Merriam Webster:
theism
noun the·ism ˈthē-ˌi-zəm\
: the belief that God exists or that many gods exist
Full Definition of THEISM
: belief in the existence of a god or gods; specifically : belief in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of the human race and the world who transcends yet is immanent in the world
Mine:
Theism: The belief that gods exist.
And let's quickly dispense with this one: From MW...
God
ɡäd/
noun: God; noun: god; plural noun: gods; plural noun: the gods
1. (in Christianity and other monotheistic religions) the creator and ruler of the universe
and source of all moral authority; the supreme being.
synonyms: the Lord, the Almighty, the Creator, the Maker, the Godhead; More
Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh; (God) the Father, (God) the Son, the Holy Ghost/Spirit, the
Holy Trinity; the Great Spirit, Gitchi Manitou;
humorous: the Man Upstairs
"a gift from God"
2. (in certain other religions) a superhuman being or spirit worshiped as having power
over nature or human fortunes; a deity.
Mine:
"Whatever you say it is, let's run with it. It's not an issue, unless it is for you."
Had the idea of gods, leading to belief (be·lief 1.an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists.) in gods, not existed, a word for not believing they exist would not have been necessary. The word atheism is a derivative of theism and relies on it for any meaning to be extracted from it. It's reactionary rather than proactive, like theism.
Theism is the belief, atheism is being without that belief: The word atheist would not exist if not for the concept of theism.
Even the spelling of atheism, 'a'theism, uses a very specific, clearly defined prefix (a- prefix 1. not; without; opposite to:) added to the root, theism, and like asexual, atypical, atonal, and asocial, ( I prefer a pronunciation more like these words) denotes and describes the specific quality of absence, so "without belief in gods" or "not belief in gods" or "opposite to belief in gods." It's an absence of belief, not a belief itself.
This is an important distinction and one I attempt to clarify frequently, often to blistering accusations of sophistry, semantics and word-play, because I think it is central to understanding what atheism is:
A belief exists, we don't believe.
The most often repeated rebuttal is "But not believing gods exist means you believe gods don't exist." (which often leads to "So you have a belief system," which sometimes leads to "ergo, a religion because it's a belief about God..." yAWn... - BTW, nice sophistry, semantics and word-play there, well done!) While that may seem logically true, it is not. Being without a belief in something does not indicate or require a belief in something else, not even it's logical inverse.
___________
Let's play a game:
You ask me "Do you believe the sun will rise tomorrow?" "No" my reply. "So you believe the sun will not rise tomorrow?" "I hadn't even given it a thought." I say. "I believe the universe will cease to exist tonight." It doesn't even factor into what is believed. It's an unaccepted premise. It's a minor issue, unworthy of serious consideration.
What I believed didn't start where your beliefs did and didn't include a belief you hold. It doesn't even factor into any process or equation that defined my beliefs. Technically, I believe the sun won't rise, but it's an insignificant, piddly distraction, incidental and not a part of anything I believe.
[Go ahead: Indulge your blood lust. Rip this one apart, limb from limb. I refuse to give this weak-ass analogy one more minute of time...]
___________
My beliefs take me many places and inform how I traverse my life. My lack of belief in something, not so much. Theists, more often than not (probably,) hold their belief in gods as the/one of the first step/s in many/most decisions about the world as they know it. My beliefs do the same for me. But they do not include a belief in gods. And I don't spend much time worrying about something I don't believe exists, like gods. I doubt most theists spend much time worrying about something they don't believe exists, like the non-existence of gods. It's settled: Move on, question when necessary (or not,) but not routinely before making decisions.
Some atheists "KNOW!" gods don't exist. some atheists "deduce" gods don't exist, some atheists "suspect" gods don't exist, some atheists "think" gods don't exist, some atheists "think it's important that" gods don't exist, some atheists "don't care if" gods don't exist, and, yes, it's likely most atheists "believe" (1. accept (something) as true; feel sure of the truth of.) gods don't exist, but our one and only commonality is...
"We don't believe that gods exist."
This may be too fine a point for some or a difficult distinction to reconcile with your worldview. It took time to fully integrate it into my understandings, but, in fact, it's the only thing all atheists can agree on (I hope!) Atheists believe all manner of nonsense and variety, unbridled, spectacular lunacy to strict, dogmatic adherence, utter apathy to religulous zealotry, but the only thing we share across the board is the absence of belief in gods.
That's as reductive as I can get.
Why does any of this matter?
It only matters to me, really. Words mean what they mean or they don't. When I say "I'm an atheist," I'd like that to mean what that means and nothing more, a properly descriptive and restrictive word, inclusive and accurate for "a lack of belief in gods." I know that's a lot to ask, but the clearer I am about what being an atheist means (to me,) the more effectively I can communicate that meaning, avoid confusion, and determine if communication is even a viable option (If we can't agree to use the same meanings for the same words, what hope is there? - Thanks Obama!)
There's so much more here to slice and dice, open and examine, with the different definitions of atheist and their many connotations, the inconsistencies and "bias" revealed by comparing different dictionaries and don't get me started on why atheism is NOT a religion: I could go all day but the smell is really starting to get to me...
Quickly:
What about the glaring difference between Oxford and MW? A British bias or an American one?
The use of "does not believe in God" only (no "gods") in the MW and use of both in Ox.
The inclusion by MW of the archaic definition first "1. archaic : ungodliness, wickedness," conspicuously absent from the simple Oxford definition.
And MW put monotheism's god first with "others" as a second meaning after "Humorous: The man upstairs." Rant!
Is MW a "christian" dictionary? Conspiracy Rant!
And, WTF, a "doctrine????" Rant! Rant!
doc·trine
ˈdäktrən/
noun
noun: doctrine; plural noun: doctrines
a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.
I didn't know we had any of that stuff! Where has it been hiding? I want to see it! I've been missing all that stuff! Is it free?
Rant! Stamp! Rant! Stamp! Rant!
But for now, please excuse me while I wash-up. It's getting sticky in here...
__________________
Does any of this resonate with you? Has it clarified anything for you or further muddied murky waters? Got a better/different/right definition? Want to blame me for ruining a perfectly delightful Sunday? Have at it!
Give me your thoughts, your rebuttals, your huddled masses, yearning to be free...
DISCLAIMER: This is not intended to be accurate, complete or persuasive, just therapeutic. Problems with reasoning and gaps in logic and fact are a feature, not a bug. I reserve the right to be wrong. I do not speak for any other atheist but myself (No one does.) Opinions expressed are mine and mine alone (unless someone wants them, then they are welcome to them, no charge [as is, no warranty of any kind and may not work as designed or intended, think for yourself, i didn't see anything, your honor.]) Always consult your doctor before you change or stop taking your religion. Eat your vegetables, don't talk to strangers, and take your thumb out of your mouth!
Void where prohibited by law.