Demogorgon

English

Etymology

A pseudo-Greek mythological figure most likely actually invented by a Christian scholar ca 350–400 C.E.. The origins of the name are uncertain, partly because the figure itself was possibly of imaginary coinage. Various theories suggest that the name is derived from the Greek words daemon (“spirit”, given the Christian connotations of “demon” in the early Middle Ages)—or, less likely demos (“people”)—and Gorgon or γοργός (gorgós, “grim”). A less accepted theory claims that it is derived from a variation of “demiurge”.

Proper noun

Demogorgon

1. A pagan god or demon, associated with the underworld and envisaged as a powerful primordial being, whose very name was taboo; an incubus.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 963–965:

     […] and by them ſtood / Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name / of Demogorgon […]

2. A manufactured horror; a Frankenstein's monster.