a movement or system of thought advocating natural religion based on human reason rather than revelation; specif a chiefly 18th-cent. doctrine asserting that although God created the universe but He does not intervene in its functioning
deist noun
deistic /-ʹistik/ adj
deistical /-ʹistikl/ adj
deistically /-ʹistikli/ adv
[French déisme from Latin deus god]