Define "Pagan"

I've been told that I'm a rather conservative person when it comes to the use of words (but most certainly not in political leanings).
I personally believe that words as abstract titles that literally define the world around us we should use them accordingly.
That being said, I'm not The Authority on Paganism (yet... <^.^>), so my definition is just as (in)valid as anyone else's.
Paganism comes in many shapes and sizes and so I like to use the terms coined by Isaac Bonewits. (*Note: the terms are his, the definitions are mine)
PaleoPaganism - The rare indigenous beliefs and practices that have gone completely unmarred by outside influence.
MesoPaganism - Those primal indigenous beliefs and practices that have evolved and been influenced by (and often sync with) official religio-political groups or had been created from those influences prior to 1900ce.
NeoPaganism - (or Contemporary Paganism) Beliefs and practices that have evolved and been influenced by both previous forms of Paganism but are often divorced from certain cultural contexts as well as exhibiting  Romantic Theo-Philosophical thoughts and blends them with psychology.

 To a Meso- or PaleoPagan, the idea of worshiping gods for pantheons was very alien. The Roman concurred cultures were often subverted into renaming their gods to be synced with Roman gods. They got to worship their Old Ones in idea, but not in name. The Greeks believed that gods other than their own existed, but viewed them on a plain of demigods, as only one set of gods could have really created everything, and the Greeks were "obviously the correct ones." The Norse believed that they were blood related to their gods, and revered them as ancestors.
Polytheists today and back then would be very offended to hear someone say that their gods are anything but very real, unique and distinct entities (sometimes having actual, physical bodies). There are others out there that will tell you quite plainly that the gods, all the gods, are just symbols or metaphors that we use to personify and understand cosmic ideas and energies.
Most Contemporary Pagans fall somewhere in between.