49 religion and philosophy glossaries
Last updated 31 July 2020
Some excellent resources you can use if you struggle with philosophical or religious terms or if you have an interest in these areas. The religion glossaries cover all major religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism), but also less known ones (like Zoroastrian). The descriptions of each glossary will help you decide if they are what you are looking for.
Philosophy
The Philosophy Pages by Garth Kemerling – This glossary focuses on both philosophy-related terminology and famous names in this field of study. When it comes to names, you will get an overview of that person’s life and works.
IEP – The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy – A great Internet encyclopaedia of philosophy. You can find information on both philosophical currents and famous philosophers.
Stand to Reason – This glossary contains 100 basic terms related to philosophy. Understanding these terms can make further philosophy studying much easier.
Wikipedia – This is a Wikipedia glossary, so you should expect it to do what it does best: provide a large number of terms and cross-reference links to help you understand everything better.
Philosophy for Everyone – Although this is not an actual glossary, it can be a wonderful source of information on basic philosophy. Both the videos and the explanations will help anyone trying to understand philosophy better.
Philosophy Index – A good resource when you are looking for more than basic definitions of some terms. The explanations are comprehensive, but fairly easy to understand.
Creatorix – This glossary will explain a series of rather basic philosophy terminology. However, each famous philosopher’s name that is encountered throughout the explanations has a page dedicate solely to it.
The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy – This is an Oxford dictionary of philosophy, so you can expect it to be reliable. However, the main downfall to it is the fact that, for free, you can only see a brief definition. If you want to see the entire explanation for each term, you will be required to pay for a subscription.
University of Idaho – This glossary of philosophical terminology is strictly dedicated to the ancient Greeks.
Infoplease – A fairly rich glossary of philosophy-related terms, focusing especially on the most well-known philosophical ideas.
Oxford University Press – In addition to a large number of words and extensive definitions and explanations for each one, this glossary has a great advantage: that of being downloadable. Therefore, you can study this glossary of philosophy terms even when you are offline.
About.com 1 – A glossary dedicated to aesthetics and art philosophy.
About.com 2 – A very carefully put together glossary of terms related to logic as a philosophical field of study.
About.com 3 – In this glossary, you will be able to find terms connected to political and legal philosophy.
About.com 4 – If you are looking for terms connected to that part of philosophy that deals with evolution and creationism, then this glossary will be very helpful.
About.com 5 – A philosophy glossary focused on scepticism and paranormal terminology.
Hartford Institute for Religion Research – Another glossary dedicated to philosophy-related terminology. However, you will also find here terms and names related to society.
HKBU – Hong Kong Baptist University – This page is very well researched and you can find a lot of philosophy-related terms. However, it is obviously focused on Kant’s writings, so if you are not looking for something connected to his philosophy, then this is definitely not the right place to search your terms.
Religion
About.com 6 – You can find here a complete religion and philosophy glossary list, arranged in alphabetical order. However, if you are looking for terms related to a particular subject, you will be able to find it here as well, since the terms are categorised according themes.
Gnostic teachings – A wonderful resource of spiritual, religious and philosophical terms. Besides explanations, you will find here the etymologies of some terms, which is amazingly useful when trying to grasp their deeper meaning.
About.com 7 – This is the part of the above-mentioned glossary that is dedicated to Judaism and Jewish concepts.
About.com 8 – The part dedicated to Christianity, the Bible and other related terms.
About.com 9 – You can find here a list of terms related to Islam, as part of a larger religion and philosophy glossary.
About.com 10 – This page is dedicated to Eastern religions and their philosophy.
Wikipedia – Again, this is a Wikipedia glossary, so you can expect it to provide you with a large amount of information and useful cross-reference links. It is dedicated to Christianity-related terminology.
Wakefield – A carefully researched glossary of religious terms, including words related to the main three major monotheistic religions, as well as to the Eastern religions and philosophies.
Dharma – This glossary is dedicated entirely to Buddhism-related terminology, so if you are looking for words coming particularly from this field, this is the best resource for you.
Antiochian – A glossary dedicated not only to Christianity, but even more specifically to Orthodox Christianity.
New Advent – The Catholic Encyclopedia – Somewhat similar to the above-mentioned glossary, this one is focused on Catholic Christian terminology.
Islam 101 – This page is centred around Islamic terminology only. This is probably the longest list of words related to this subject, so it is very likely that you will find here an explanation for almost any Islam-related term.
CanTeach – Although relatively short, this glossary is great when you are looking for terms connected to the Sikh religion.
Avesta – This is another glossary dedicated to a lesser known religion: the Zoroastrian one.
Translation Directory – A list of terms related to religions. Bear in mind the fact that the italicised words are used by conservative Christian groups. Also, depending on how you look at the explanations, some may be on the humorous side.
Franklin and Marshall College – This glossary contains basic words encountered in the five most popular religions of the world: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Sikhs – This is another glossary focused around the Sikh religion. However, you will find a much larger number of words explained here.
Judaism 101 – A page centred around Judaism. The best part about it (besides the large number of terms that are thoroughly explained) is the fact that there is also a pronunciation guide, so you will be able to learn how to pronounce the words correctly.
Religion facts – A great resource when you are looking for fairly basic words related to Judaism.
MMI 1 – A glossary of Christian terminology, with cross-reference links to help you understand them better.
MMI 2 – This glossary follows the same format as the above-mentioned one, but it is dedicated to Buddhist terminology.
MMI 3 – Again, the same format is used to explain terms connected to Hinduism.
MMI 4 – A glossary of Muslim terminology which follows the same format as that of the previously-mentioned ones.
MMI 5 – Made on the same pattern as the glossaries before it, this one is centred around Jewish terminology.
MMI 6 – A great resource on the Sikh religion. This glossary looks similar to the previous ones and it has the same kind of useful cross-reference links.
MMI 7 – Following the same pattern, this glossary is focused on Christian perspectives.
BBC – Another glossary dedicated to Roman-Catholicism, with excellent definitions and historical facts related to each word.
Routledge – A very unique glossary focused on the African-American religion. Excellent both when trying to search for a particular word and when you are just generally interested in finding out more about this religion.
Religion: The Social Context – This is a glossary focused on the most important terms sociologists of religion use.
Stony Brook University – The explanations are more academic than in other glossaries of Buddhism-related terms.
Holy Cross – Another great resource when looking for terms related to Roman Catholicism. However, this source may not be completely objective, since the entire site is dedicated to Roman Catholicism.