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δαίμων. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
δαίμων, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
δαίμων in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
δαίμων you have here. The definition of the word
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Ancient Greek
Etymology
From δαίομαι (daíomai, “to divide”) + -μων (-mōn), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂-i- (“to divide, cut”). For similar semantic development compare Old Persian 𐎲𐎥 (b-g /baga/, “god”), Sanskrit भग (bhága, “dispenser, patron”) (usually applied to gods) beside Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬔𐬀- (baga-, “part”) and Sanskrit भजति (bhájati, “to divide, apportion”). Compare the etymology of English time.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dǎi̯.mɔːn/ → /ˈðɛ.mon/ → /ˈðe.mon/
Noun
δαίμων • (daímōn) m or f (genitive δαίμονος); third declension
- god, goddess demigod
- divine power, deity
- guardian spirit (Latin genius), and so one's fate, destiny, fortune
- departed soul
- (ecclesiastical, biblical) demon, evil spirit
Usage notes
- While δαίμων was sometimes used interchangeably with θεός (theós), when used together in a context, a δαίμων is usually a lower god than a θεός (theós).
- Even though it is attested mainly as a philosophical divine or spiritual entity (often with a negative sense), its earlier meaning should be semantically related to its root, giving us “ruler who divides ”. After a given amount of time this meaning has been going through a demonization process (sic!), while the opposite can be affirmed for the apotheosis process θεός (theós) has met, which in turn initially meant “ruler” or, verbatim, “the one who puts in place”. Compare the word Λᾰκεδαίμων (Lakedaímōn), meaning literally “the Laconian distributor ”.
Inflection
ὁ, ἡ δαίμων ho, hē daímōn
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τὼ δαίμονε tṑ daímone
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οἱ, αἱ δαίμονες hoi, hai daímones
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τοῦ, τῆς δαίμονος toû, tês daímonos
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τοῖν δαιμόνοιν toîn daimónoin
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τῶν δαιμόνων tôn daimónōn
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τῷ, τῇ δαίμονῐ tôi, têi daímoni
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τοῖν δαιμόνοιν toîn daimónoin
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τοῖς, ταῖς δαίμοσῐ / δαίμοσῐν toîs, taîs daímosi(n)
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τὸν, τὴν δαίμονᾰ tòn, tḕn daímona
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τὼ δαίμονε tṑ daímone
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τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς δαίμονᾰς toùs, tā̀s daímonas
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δαῖμον daîmon
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δαίμονε daímone
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δαίμονες daímones
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Derived terms
Descendants
References
- “δαίμων”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “δαίμων”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “δαίμων”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
- δαίμων in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
- δαίμων in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- δαίμων in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
- “δαίμων”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
- G1142 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- deity idem, page 206.
- demon idem, page 209.
- destiny idem, page 217.
- divinity idem, page 244.
- doom idem, page 247.
- familiar idem, page 305.
- fate idem, page 309.
- fortune idem, page 340.
- genius idem, page 357.
- god idem, page 365.
- goddess idem, page 365.
- lot idem, page 501.
- luck idem, page 503.
- spirit idem, page 802.
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 297