atheist

The word 'atheist' is a direct borrowing from the French athéiste, which itself was constructed from Greek components. The core is the Greek noun theos (god), which traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root dhes-, used for religious concepts. The Greek prefix a- functions as a privative, meaning "without" or "not." The suffix -istēs was added to form an agent noun. Thus, the literal, morpheme-by-morpheme construction is "without-god-person." This logical assembly evolved from a purely descriptive, potentially accusatory label in ancient Greek contexts into the modern, abstract term for a philosophical position or personal identity denoting disbelief in deities.

Structure: a (without) + the (god) + ist (person who) a-: A prefix of Greek origin meaning "without," "not," or "lacking." the-: A morpheme from Greek theos, meaning "god" or "deity." -ist: A suffix of Greek/Latin origin denoting a person who practices or is concerned with something, or holds certain principles.