Learn English – Meaning of attic faith

meaning

Today, while reading my English-Vietnamese dictionary, I came across a relatively new phrase, "attic faith", which is translated into Vietnamese as "niềm tin không thể bị lay chuyển".

As I looked it up, I only found 4 related results:

http://www.whatdoesthatmean.com/dictionary/A/attic-faith.html

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Attic_faith

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Attic+faith

http://www.yourdictionary.com/attic-faith

All of them have the same definition: unshakeable faith or inviolable faith. However, as a selective learner, I do not usually believe something without questioning its reliability. I also looked up the word "attic" in the OED but there is no definition of it being "unshakeable" or "inviolable". Consequently, it made me doubt the existence of the phrase "attic faith".

I would like to know if it is a real phrase and its meaning is such.

Best Answer

The term Attic faith certainly seems to be rare, but not new. Ngram records 0 instances, but online sources attest to a definition in Webster's 1913 dictionary:

inviolable faith

This same dictionary also lists several related terms, and references them in its adjectival definition of Attic, which was new to me:

a. 1. Of or pertaining to Attica, in Greece, or to Athens, its principal city; marked by such qualities as were characteristic of the Athenians; classical; refined.

Attic base (Arch.) a peculiar form of molded base for a column or pilaster, described by Vitruvius, applied under the Roman Empire to the Ionic and Corinthian and "Roman Doric" orders, and imitated by the architects of the Renaissance.

Attic faith inviolable faith.

Attic purity special purity of language.

Attic salt a poignant, delicate wit, peculiar to the Athenians.

Attic story See Attic, n.

Attic style a style pure and elegant.

You go on to say,

I would like to know if it is a real phrase and its meaning is such.

It apparently is a "real phrase", in the sense that multiple authorities attest to it. I personally attribute more authority to Webster's than to the sources you listed, but any way around, multiple attestations are strong evidence. On the other hand, if by "real phrase" you mean do people actually say or write that phrase in modern English, then no. I never saw or heard it before today.

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