Sense file
How the sense moved
The archive follows the dated record first, then reads the social or rhetorical pressure that hardened, softened, narrowed, or reversed the word.
Older meaning
Right opinion, especially in theology or church belief.
Modern meaning
Accepted or institutionally correct belief, often with an undertone of rigidity.
Research lens
A right-opinion word that now quietly maps who counts as inside consensus and who does not.
Meaning trail
Root
right opinion
The word begins by naming correctness of belief.
Older sense
theological conformity
Church dispute gave it strong boundary-setting force.
Now
accepted correctness in any field
The term now travels far beyond religion.