Brewer's: Ethnic Plot

The Popish plot. In Dryden's satire of Absalom and Achitophel, Charles II. is called David, the royalists are called the Jews, and the Papists Gentiles or Ethnoi, whence “Ethnic plot” means the Gentile or Popish plot.

“Saw with disdain an Ethnic plot begun ... `Gainst form and order they their power employ, Nothing to build, and all things to destroy.”

Part i. 518, 532-3.

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language