HERETIC

Function:noun

Date:14th century

1 : a dissenter from established religious dogma;  especially   : a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church who disavows a revealed truth

2 : one who dissents from an accepted belief or doctrine  : NONCONFORMIST

HERESY

Function:noun

Inflected Form:plural -sies

Etymology:Middle English heresie, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin haeresis, from Late Greek hairesis, from Greek, action of taking, choice, sect, from hairein to take

Date:13th century

1 a : adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma  b : denial of a revealed truth by a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church  c : an opinion or doctrine contrary to church dogma

2 a : dissent or deviation from a dominant theory, opinion, or practice  b : an opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to the truth or to generally accepted beliefs or standards

CULT

Function:noun

Usage:often attributive

Etymology:French & Latin; French culte, from Latin cultus care, adoration, from colere to cultivate — more at  WHEEL

Date:1617

1 : formal religious veneration  : WORSHIP

2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual;  also   : its body of adherents

3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious;  also   : its body of adherents

4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator  *health cults*

5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book);  especially   : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad  b : the object of such devotion  c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion