The state or condition of being heathen; the collective status or realm of heathen peoples.
From 'heathen' + '-hood' suffix, which creates abstract nouns meaning state or condition (also found in 'childhood,' 'adulthood'). The '-hood' suffix comes from Old English and originally meant 'person' or 'status.'
'-hood' is one of English's oldest suffixes, but it's rarely used anymore to make new words—we don't say 'kindhood' or 'coolhood' even though we technically could! This shows how some word-building tools become 'fossil' patterns we recognize but stop using.
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