doctrine

Definitions of Doctrine

1. (noun) The beliefs or principles accepted as authoritative and advocated for by an individual or group such as a political party or religion.
2. (noun) A body or system of teachings of an individual or group.

Examples of Doctrine

• Definition 1:
  • Monroe Doctrine
  • Truman Doctrine
• Definition 2:
  • Doctrines of Christianity
  • Doctrines of Islam

Doctrine Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: doc·trine

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈdɑktrən/
• British English – /ˈdɒktrɪn/

Usage Notes

• Plural: doctrines
• A doctrine can lead to an official policy.
• A (noun) doctrinaire (adverb) doctrinally clings to a (noun) doctrinality or (noun) doctrinism often in the face of opposing views, holding fast to (adjective) doctrinal beliefs or principles and seeking to (verb) indoctrinate others to a position.

Related Quotation

• “Fundamentalism, whether of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu variety, is a socially conservative political ideology dressed up in religious language. Although fundamentalists claim to adhere to the original doctrinal texts, they are frequently very selective in their use of those texts and traditions . . . As a religious doctrine, fundamentalism often takes religion out of the social context in which it first arose and says that tenets that may have made sense in, for example, a society that practiced slavery, are still applicable today” (Kaufman and Kimmel 2011:51).

Additional Information

• Word origin of “doctrine” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com

Related Terms

• belief
• government
• policy
• power
• religion

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Reference

Kaufman, Michael, and Michael S. Kimmel. 2011. The Guy’s Guide to Feminism. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press.

Works Consulted

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).

Marsh, Ian, and Mike Keating, eds. 2006. Sociology: Making Sense of Society. 3rd ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Doctrine

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “doctrine.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved January 16, 2025 (https://sociologydictionary.org/doctrine/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

doctrine. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/doctrine/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “doctrine.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/doctrine/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“doctrine.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 16 Jan. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/doctrine/>.