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The Latin word pagus, from which pagan is derived, originally meant "something stuck in the ground as a landmark." It was extended metaphorically to "rural district, village," and the noun paganus was derived from it, denoting "country dweller, villager." This shifted in meaning, first to "civilian," and then (based on the early Christian notion that all members of the Church were "soldiers" of Jesus Christ) to "heathen."
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