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fanum

Latin

temple, sacred place, divinely inspired

Variants:fanumfanat
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About This Root

From Latin fānum (temple, sacred place). The derivative fānāticus originally described someone "inspired by a temple" — a temple servant in a state of divine frenzy. This gives us fanatic, fanatical, and fanaticism, all carrying the sense of excessive zeal. Profane (before/outside the temple) represents the opposite — the non-sacred.

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Associated Words · 4

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fanatic

A person with extreme devotion to a cause; excessively zealous

fanatical

Extremely and irrationally devoted to a cause

profane

Showing disrespect for sacred things; secular; to desecrate

fanaticism

Extreme and irrational devotion to a cause