GOSPEL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Gospel mean? 

• GOSPEL (noun)
  The noun GOSPEL has 5 senses:

1. the four books in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that tell the story of Christ's life and teachings

2. an unquestionable truth

3. folk music consisting of a genre of a cappella music originating with Black slaves in the United States and featuring call and response; influential on the development of other genres of popular music (especially soul)

4. the written body of teachings of a religious group that are generally accepted by that group

5. a doctrine that is believed to be of great importance

  Familiarity information: GOSPEL used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GOSPEL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The four books in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that tell the story of Christ's life and teachings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

evangel; Gospel; Gospels

Hypernyms ("Gospel" is a kind of...):

religious text; religious writing; sacred text; sacred writing (writing that is venerated for the worship of a deity)

Meronyms (parts of "Gospel"):

Synoptic Gospels; Synoptics (the first three Gospels which describe events in Christ's life from a similar point of view)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Gospel"):

Word of God (the message of the Gospel of Christ)

Instance hyponyms:

Gospel According to Mark; Mark (the shortest of the four Gospels in the New Testament)

Gospel According to Luke; Gospel of Luke; Luke (one of the four Gospels in the New Testament; contains details of Jesus's birth and early life)

Gospel According to John; John (the last of the four Gospels in the New Testament)

Gospel According to Matthew; Matthew (one of the Gospels in the New Testament; includes the Sermon on the Mount)

Holonyms ("Gospel" is a part of...):

New Testament (the collection of books of the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, the Pauline and other epistles, and Revelation; composed soon after Christ's death; the second half of the Christian Bible)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An unquestionable truth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

gospel; gospel truth

Context example:

his word was gospel

Hypernyms ("gospel" is a kind of...):

true statement; truth (a true statement)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Folk music consisting of a genre of a cappella music originating with Black slaves in the United States and featuring call and response; influential on the development of other genres of popular music (especially soul)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

gospel; gospel singing

Hypernyms ("gospel" is a kind of...):

ethnic music; folk; folk music (the traditional and typically anonymous music that is an expression of the life of people in a community)

Domain category:

a capella singing; a cappella singing (singing without instrumental accompaniment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gospel"):

doo-wop (a genre (usually a cappella) of Black vocal-harmony music of the 1950s that evolved in New York City from gospel singing; characterized by close four-part harmonies; the name derived from some of the nonsense syllables sung by the backup)

soul (a secular form of gospel that was a major Black musical genre in the 1960s and 1970s)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The written body of teachings of a religious group that are generally accepted by that group

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

church doctrine; creed; gospel; religious doctrine

Hypernyms ("gospel" is a kind of...):

doctrine; ism; philosophical system; philosophy; school of thought (a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gospel"):

ahimsa (a Buddhist and Hindu and especially Jainist doctrine holding that all forms of life are sacred and urging the avoidance of violence)

real presence ((Christianity) the Christian doctrine that the body of Christ is actually present in the Eucharist)

Nicene Creed ((Christianity) a formal creed summarizing Christian beliefs; first adopted in 325 and later expanded)

Incarnation ((Christianity) the Christian doctrine of the union of God and man in the person of Jesus Christ)

Immaculate Conception; Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary ((Christianity) the Roman Catholic dogma that God preserved the Virgin Mary from any stain of original sin from the moment she was conceived)

ecumenicalism; ecumenicism; ecumenism ((Christianity) the doctrine of the ecumenical movement that promotes cooperation and better understanding among different religious denominations: aimed at universal Christian unity)

dogma; tenet (a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof)

confession (the document that spells out the belief system of a given church (especially the Reformation churches of the 16th century))

original sin (a sin said to be inherited by all descendants of Adam)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A doctrine that is believed to be of great importance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

Newton's writings were gospel for those who followed

Hypernyms ("gospel" is a kind of...):

doctrine; ism; philosophical system; philosophy; school of thought (a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school)

 Context examples 

“How did you know, for example, that I did manual labour. It’s as true as gospel, for I began as a ship’s carpenter.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

No. There is this difference between me and deistic philosophers: I believe; and I believe the Gospel.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A youngster who, but a few years ago, believed in Cornelius Agrippa as firmly as in the gospel, has now set himself at the head of the university; and if he is not soon pulled down, we shall all be out of countenance.—Ay, ay, continued he, observing my face expressive of suffering, M. Frankenstein is modest; an excellent quality in a young man.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

His, under such circumstances, is the destiny of the pioneer; and the first pioneers of the Gospel were the Apostles—their captain was Jesus, the Redeemer, Himself.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Compare these clear eyes with the red balls yonder—this face with that mask—this form with that bulk; then judge me, priest of the gospel and man of the law, and remember with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged!

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)