iconoclasm

[Gr. eikön (gen it. eikonos ) = a figure, a picture, and klasma = a thing broken; klao to break.] 1. Lit .: The act of breaking or destroying images, as idols, . The word is usually confined to the movement in the Eastern Church, but it is sometimes employed as in the example. "Chapels and church-towers, still supreme in their beauty in spite of the rigid iconoclasm of the sixteenth century." -J. S. Brewer: English Studies , p. 107. 2. Fig .: The act of destroying or exposing shams, delusions, .; an attack upon a cherished belief. image, and klastes = one who breaks or destroys; I-con-o-clăst, s . [Gr. eikön (gen it, eikonos )=an klaō -to break or destroy; Fr. iconoclaste.] I. Ordinary Language : 1. Lit .: One who breaks or destroys images, as of idols, .; one who is strongly opposed to the worship of images. 2. Fig .: One who destroys or exposes shams, delusions, .; one who attacks cherished beliefs. II. Ch . Hist .: A party or faction in the Eastern Church, in the eighth century, who supported the Emperor Leo, the I saurian, in his violent contest against image-worship (q. v.), and broke images where they had the power. "A council of iconoclasts was held, in which the adora tion and the use of images was condemned."-Jortin: Eccles . Hist . (an. 741). I-con-o-clăst-ic, a . [Eng. iconoclast ; -ic.] Of or pertaining to iconoclasm or iconoclasts. ( Lit. & fig .) "The Jewish and Moslem iconoclastic mind thinks ancient statues men transformed by enchantment or judgment."-Tylor: Early Hist. Mankind, ch. vi. i-con-ô-grăph'-Ic, a . [Eng. iconograph ( y ); -ic .] 1. Pertaining or relating to iconography. 2. Representing by means of diagrams or pict IMG:content-1437.png:[blocks in formation]