Abstract
The aim of this first lecture is to circumscribe the highly controversial notion of " religion " and to discuss the relevance of setting it up as an operative concept for the study of religions. To this end, the history of the word is examined, from the Latin religio in the sense given to it by the Romans to the profound changes in perspective imposed by the use of the term in the first centuries of Christianity by the Church Fathers, who defended, in Latin, the new religio. It was towards the end of the 16thcentury that the meaning we now give to the term crystallized in everyday language, with components such as belief, veneration, rites, piety towards god(s), and even morality, all of which cannot be applied to all " religions ". In spite of this very strong cultural determination of the word in contemporary European languages, the term can be retained as an operative and exploratory concept, to which it is a question of giving a definition, even if provisional, that tears itself away as much as possible from the determinisms mentioned.
