Definition of "paynim" [pay•nim]

• Archaic A non-Christian, especially a Muslim. (noun)
• Archaic A pagan or heathen. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Kenneth felt as if, in those wildernesses the waste and dry places in which the foul spirits were wont to wander when expelled the mortals whose forms they possessed, a bare-footed friar would have been a better associate than the gay but unbelieving paynim."
• "“Thanks to the Prophet that hath so far honoured our mountains as to send from their bosom him whose word is victory,” answered the paynim."
• "They passed, like shadows, into the outer apartment, without disturbing the paynim Emir, who lay still buried in repose."