"Religion from O.Fr. religion "religious community," from L. religionem (nom. religio)
"respect for what is sacred, reverence for the gods,"
"obligation, the bond between man and the gods"
is derived from the Latin religiō, the ultimate origins of which are obscure.
One possibility is an interpretation traced to Cicero,
connecting lego "read", i.e. re (again) + lego in the sense of
"choose", "go over again" or "consider carefully".
Modern scholars such as Tom Harpur and Joseph Campbell favor the derivation from ligare
"bind, connect", probably from a prefixed re-ligare, i.e. re (again) + ligare or
"to reconnect,""
"respect for what is sacred, reverence for the gods,"
"obligation, the bond between man and the gods"
is derived from the Latin religiō, the ultimate origins of which are obscure.
One possibility is an interpretation traced to Cicero,
connecting lego "read", i.e. re (again) + lego in the sense of
"choose", "go over again" or "consider carefully".
Modern scholars such as Tom Harpur and Joseph Campbell favor the derivation from ligare
"bind, connect", probably from a prefixed re-ligare, i.e. re (again) + ligare or
"to reconnect,""
