Two Possibilities of the Origin of ‘Religion’

religion

– relegare “go through again, read again,” from re- “again” + legere “read” .

– religare “to bind fast”, via notion of “place an obligation on.”

While no one seems to know for sure, these two etymologies seem to be the best for ‘religion’. Either derivation from Latin gives wonderful insight into how far we have strayed from the true meaning, whether it is because we stick to fundamentalist, conservative, biased readings of the Word, or because we forget the One we are to be bound to.