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idol . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
idol , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
idol in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
idol you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English ydole , from Old French idole , from Latin idolum , from Ancient Greek εἴδωλον ( eídōlon , “ image, idol ” ) , from εἶδος ( eîdos , “ form ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *wéydos ( “ seeing, image ” ) , from *weyd- ( “ to see ” ) . Doublet of aidoru , eidolon , and idolum and related to idea .
Pronunciation
Noun
idol (plural idols )
A graven image or representation of anything that is revered , or believed to convey spiritual power.
1611 , The Holy Bible, (King James Version ), London: Robert Barker , , →OCLC , Revelation 9:20–21 :20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship deuils, and idoles of golde, and siluer, and brasse, and stone, and of wood, which neither can see, nor heare, nor walke: 21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
1897 December (indicated as 1898 ), Winston Churchill , chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode , New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company ; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. , →OCLC :Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
1911 , J. Milton Hayes , The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God :There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Kathmandu, There's a little marble cross below the town; There's a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew, And the Yellow God forever gazes down.
A cultural icon , or especially popular person .
( Asia , originally Japan ) A popular entertainer, usually young, captivating and attractive, and often female, with an image of being close to fans.
: They are known as "idols " and their job is "to sell dreams". For decades, the young pop stars of Japan and South Korea have been the envy of teenagers. ]
( obsolete ) An eidolon or phantom ; something misleading or elusive.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Descendants
→ Japanese: アイドル
→ Korean: 아이돌 ( aidol )
Translations
representation of anything revered
Albanian: idhull (sq) m
Arabic: صَنَم m ( ṣanam ) , وَثَن (ar) m ( waṯan )
Egyptian Arabic: صنم m ( ṣanam )
Armenian: կուռք (hy) ( kuṙkʻ )
Azerbaijani: büt (az) , sənəm
Baluchi: بت ( but )
Bashkir: бот ( bot ) , һынташ ( hıntaş ) , тораташ ( torataş )
Belarusian: і́дал m ( ídal ) , бажо́к m ( bažók ) , бо́ства n ( bóstva )
Bengali: বুত (bn) ( but )
Bulgarian: и́дол (bg) m ( ídol ) , куми́р (bg) m ( kumír )
Burmese: ရုပ်တု (my) ( ruptu. )
Catalan: ídol (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 偶人 ( ngau5 jan4 ) , 偶像 ( ngau5 zoeng6 )
Mandarin: 偶像 (zh) ( ǒuxiàng ) , 神像 (zh) ( shénxiàng ) , 偶人 (zh) ( ǒurén )
Crimean Tatar: put
Czech: idol m , modla (cs) f
Danish: idol c
Dutch: afgod (nl) m , godenbeeld (nl) , idool (nl)
Esperanto: idolo (eo)
Finnish: jumalankuva (fi) , epäjumalankuva
French: idole (fr) f
Galician: ídolo m
Georgian: კერპი (ka) ( ḳerṗi )
German: Idol (de) n , Götze (de) f
Greek: είδωλο (el) n ( eídolo )
Ancient: εἴδωλον n ( eídōlon )
Gujarati: મૂર્તિ ( mūrti ) , દેવપ્રતિમા ( devapratimā )
Hebrew: צלם (he) , פסל (he) , תרפים (he) , בְּעָל (he)
Hindi: बुत (hi) m ( but ) , मूर्ति f ( mūrti ) , प्रतिमा (hi) f ( pratimā )
Hungarian: bálvány (hu)
Indonesian: berhala (id) , pujaan (id)
Italian: idolo (it) m
Japanese: 偶像 (ja) ( ぐうぞう, gūzō ) , アイドル (ja) ( aidoru )
Karaim: abach
Karakhanid: بُرْخَنْ ( burχan )
Kazakh: бұт ( būt )
Khmer: គារវរូប ( kiərĕəʼvĕəʼruup )
Korean: 우상(偶像) (ko) ( usang )
Kyrgyz: бут (ky) ( but )
Latgalian: dīvaklys
Latin: īdōlum n
Latvian: elks
Lingala: nkísi
Macedonian: идол m ( idol ) , кумир m ( kumir )
Malagasy: sampy (mg)
Malay: pujaan (ms) , berhala (ms)
Malayalam: വിഗ്രഹം (ml) ( vigrahaṁ )
Maore Comorian: sanamwe class 5 /6
Maori: whakapakoko
Marathi: मूर्ती f ( mūrtī )
Middle English: mawmet , ydole
Ngazidja Comorian: sinamu class 9 /10
Norwegian:
Bokmål: idol m
Odia: ମୂର୍ତ୍ତି (or) ( murtti )
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: коумиръ m ( kumirŭ )
Old East Slavic: идолъ m ( idolŭ ) , кумиръ m ( kumirŭ )
Old English: wēoh n , hearg m , godġield n , dēofolġield n
Old Occitan: ydola f
Pashto: بت (ps) m ( but )
Persian: بُت (fa) ( bot )
Polish: bożek (pl) m , bałwan (pl) m , idol (pl) m , modła (pl)
Portuguese: ídolo (pt) m
Punjabi: ਮੂਰਤੀ ( mūrtī )
Quechua: lanti
Romanian: idol (ro) m
Russian: и́дол (ru) m ( ídol ) , божество́ (ru) n ( božestvó ) , божо́к (ru) m ( božók ) , истука́н (ru) m ( istukán ) , куми́р (ru) m ( kumír ) ( dated in this sense ) , чур (ru) m ( čur ) ( Slavic neopaganism )
Sanskrit: देवता (sa) f ( devatā )
Scottish Gaelic: ìomhaigh m
Sinhalese: පිළිමය ( piḷimaya )
Spanish: ídolo (es) m
Swahili: sanamu
Swedish: idol (sv) c
Tajik: бут ( but )
Telugu: విగ్రహం (te) ( vigrahaṁ ) , విగ్రహము (te) ( vigrahamu )
Thai: เทวรูป (th) ( tee-wá-rûup ) , รูปเคารพ ( rûup-kao-róp )
Turkish: put (tr)
Turkmen: but (tk)
Ukrainian: і́дол m ( ídol ) , божество́ (uk) n ( božestvó ) , божо́к (uk) m ( božók )
Urdu: بُت m ( but )
Uzbek: but (uz) , sanam (uz)
Vietnamese: thần tượng (vi)
Yiddish: אָפּגאָט ( opgot ) , צלם ( tseylem )
cultural icon, especially popular person
Albanian: idhull (sq) m
Arabic: آيْدُول m ( ʔāydūl ) ( neologism )
Armenian: կուռք (hy) ( kuṙkʻ )
Belarusian: і́дал m ( ídal ) , кумі́р m ( kumír )
Bulgarian: и́дол (bg) m ( ídol ) , куми́р (bg) m ( kumír )
Catalan: ídol (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 偶像 (zh) ( ǒuxiàng ) , 萬人迷 / 万人迷 (zh) ( wànrénmí ) , 紅人 / 红人 (zh) ( hóngrén )
Czech: idol m
Esperanto: idolo (eo)
Estonian: iidol
Finnish: idoli (fi) , esikuva (fi)
French: idole (fr) m
Galician: ídolo m
German: Idol (de) n , Götze (de) f
Greek: είδωλο (el) n ( eídolo ) , ίνδαλμα (el) n ( índalma )
Hungarian: idol (hu)
Indonesian: idola (id)
Italian: idol (it) m
Japanese: アイドル (ja) ( aidoru ) , 偶像 (ja) ( ぐうぞう, gūzō )
Korean: Korean: 우상(偶像) (ko) ( usang ) , 아이돌 (ko) ( aidol )
Kyrgyz: аздек ( azdek )
Macedonian: идол m ( idol )
Maori: hautupua
Marathi: आयडल ( āyḍal )
Persian: آیدل ( âydol )
Polish: idol (pl) m , idolka (pl) f
Portuguese: ídolo (pt) m , ícone (pt) m
Romanian: idol (ro) m
Russian: и́дол (ru) m ( ídol ) , куми́р (ru) m ( kumír )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ѝдо̄л m
Roman: ìdōl (sh) m
Slovak: idol m
Slovene: idol m
Spanish: ídolo (es)
Swedish: idol (sv) c
Thai: ไอดอล ( ai-dɔ̂l )
Turkish: idol (tr)
Ukrainian: і́дол m ( ídol ) , куми́р m ( kumýr )
Vietnamese: thần tượng (vi) (神像 )
Anagrams
Danish
Pronunciation
Noun
idol n (singular definite idolet , plural indefinite idoler )
idol
Inflection
Middle English
Noun
idol
Alternative form of ydole
Polish
Etymology
Borrowed from French idole , from Latin īdōlum , from Ancient Greek εἴδωλον ( eídōlon , “ image; idol ” ) , from εἶδος ( eîdos , “ form ” ) .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈi.dɔl/
Rhymes: -idɔl
Syllabification: i‧dol
Noun
idol m pers (female equivalent idolka )
idol ( cultural icon, especially popular person )
Declension
Noun
idol m inan
idol ( representation of anything revered )
Synonyms: bożek , bałwan
Declension
Further reading
idol in Wielki słownik języka polskiego , Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
idol in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Romanian
Etymology
From Ancient Greek είδωλον ( eídōlon ) , partially through the intermediate of Old Church Slavonic идолъ ( idolŭ ) . Compare Aromanian idul , Serbo-Croatian idol .
Noun
idol m (plural idoli )
idol
pagan divinity
( popular ) demon
Synonyms: demon , drac , diavol , aghiuță , naiba
Declension
Serbo-Croatian
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ǐdoːl/
Hyphenation: i‧dol
Noun
ìdōl m (Cyrillic spelling ѝдо̄л )
idol
Declension
Swedish
Pronunciation
Noun
idol c
someone greatly admired (by someone), or the person someone admires the most; an idol
Mark Knopfler är min idol ― Mark Knopfler is my idol
( rare , technical ) a representation of a deity; an idol
Synonym: avgud
Declension
Derived terms
References
Welsh
Etymology
From English idol .
Noun
idol m (plural idolau or idoliaid or idolon )
idol
Mutation
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Further reading
R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “idol ”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies