Meaning & use
metanoia
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Meanings
noununcountablereligion
A deep change in someone's way of thinking or heart, especially a spiritual turning toward a new life.
Grammar: Formal; often used in religious or philosophical writing.
Patterns
- experience metanoia
- a moment of metanoia
After the crisis, he went through a metanoia and changed how he lived.
The sermon spoke of metanoia as a turning of the heart.
Her metanoia began the day she forgave her brother.
noununcountabletechnical
In rhetoric, a figure of speech in which a speaker corrects or takes back what they just said.
Grammar: Technical term; rare outside rhetoric.
Patterns
- metanoia in speech
Saying he was happy, no, ecstatic, is a case of metanoia.
The speech used metanoia to sharpen a point.
Teachers of rhetoric often explain metanoia with this example.
Common combinations
- spiritual metanoia
- The book describes his spiritual metanoia.
- experience metanoia
- Few people experience metanoia so suddenly.
- moment of metanoia
- The film shows a moment of metanoia.
- call to metanoia
- The preacher issued a call to metanoia.
Synonyms and how they differ
- repentance
- Repentance stresses regret for wrongdoing, while metanoia stresses a change in outlook.
- conversion
- Conversion often means changing religion, whereas metanoia is a deeper change of mind.
- transformation
- Transformation is a general word for big change, with no spiritual flavor required.
- epiphany
- Epiphany is a sudden realization, where metanoia is the turn that can follow.
Word family
Commonly confused: metanoia or paranoia?
metanoia vs paranoia
Paranoia means an irrational fear that others are against you, which is unrelated to metanoia.
Practice
After the accident, he went through a ___ and left his old life behind.
Choose one answer.
Metanoia is a deep change of mind and heart. Paranoia is a kind of fear and does not mean a life change.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “metanoia”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.