Wiktionary

demon

See also: démon, dēmon, dêmon, demön, and Demon

EnglishEdit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
 
Saint Anthony being tormented by demons in The Torment of Saint Anthony, by Michelangelo (c. 1487).

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English demon, a borrowing from Medieval Latin dēmōn, daemōn (“lar, familiar spirit, guardian spirit”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, god, protective spirit”). Doublet of daimon.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

demon (plural demons)

  1. An evil supernatural spirit.
    1. An evil spirit resident in or working for Hell; a devil. [from 10th c.]
    2. (now chiefly historical) A false god or idol; a Satanic divinity. [from 10th c.]
    3. A very wicked or malevolent person; also (in weakened sense) a mischievous person, especially a child. [from 16th c.]
    4. A source (especially personified) of great evil or wickedness; a destructive feeling or character flaw. [from 17th c.]
      The demon of stupidity haunts me whenever I open my mouth.
    5. (in the plural) A person's fears or anxieties. [from 19th c.]
      • 2013, The Guardian, 21 January:
        After a short spell on an adult psychiatric ward, she decided to find her own way to deal with her demons.
  2. A neutral supernatural spirit.
    1. A person's inner spirit or genius; a guiding or creative impulse. [from 14th c.]
      • 1616, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, II.3:
        Oh Anthony […] Thy Dæmon that thy spirit which keepes thee, is Noble, Couragious, high vnmatchable.
      • 2000, Phillip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass:
        “You saw her. And I picked her up,” Lyra said, blushing, because of course it was a gross violation of manners to touch something so private as someone else's dæmon.
    2. (Greek mythology) A tutelary deity or spirit intermediate between the major Olympian gods and mankind, especially a deified hero or the entity which supposedly guided Socrates, telling him what not to do. [from 16th c.]
    3. A spirit not considered to be inherently evil; a (non-Christian) deity or supernatural being. [from 19th c.]
    4. A hypothetical entity with special abilities postulated for the sake of a thought experiment in philosophy or physics.
      • 1874, William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, “Kinetic Theory of the Dissipation of Energy” in Nature 9, 441-444:
        Let the orders now be that each demon is to stop all molecules from crossing his area in either direction except 100 coming from A, arbitrarily chosen to be let pass into B, and a greater number, having among them less energy but equal momentum, to cross from B to A.
  3. Someone with great strength, passion or skill for a particular activity, pursuit etc.; an enthusiast. [from 19th c.]
    He’s a demon at the card tables.
    • 2021 May 29, David Hytner, “Chelsea win Champions League after Kai Havertz stuns Manchester City”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      Chelsea defended like demons to snuff out Manchester City but this was a perfectly calibrated triumph, built upon a structured attacking approach, choosing the right moments to transition, and illuminated by the smoothness of Havertz’s technique.
  4. (Britain, card games) A form of patience (known as Canfield in the US). [from 19th c.]
    • 1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin 2005, p. 89:
      ‘That's much the best feeling to have.’ She dealt out the first row of ‘demon’.
  5. Any of various hesperiid butterflies of the genera Notocrypta and Udaspes.

Usage notesEdit

Meanings drawing on the neutral, ancient Greek conception now often distinguish themselves by the variant spellings daimon or daemon.

SynonymsEdit

HyponymsEdit

Related termsEdit

Related terms →

TranslationsEdit

tutelary deity — see tutelary deity
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

AnagramsEdit

DutchEdit

 
Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

EtymologyEdit

From Latin daemon (“lar, genius, guardian spirit”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, god, protective spirit”). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈdeː.mɔn/
  • Audio
    		(file)
  • Hyphenation: de‧mon

NounEdit

demon m (plural demonen or demons)

  1. genius, lar
  2. (uncommon) demon
    Synonyms: demoon, duivel

FinnishEdit

NounEdit

demon

  1. Genitive singular form of demo.

AnagramsEdit

LatinEdit

Alternative formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

dēmon m

  1. accusative singular of dēmos

Middle EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Medieval Latin dēmōn, daemōn, from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn). Doublet of tyme (“time”).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

demon (plural demones)

  1. demon, devil, malicious spirit
  2. (rare) daimon, helpful spirit

DescendantsEdit

  • English: demon

ReferencesEdit

Norwegian BokmålEdit

 
Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn).

NounEdit

demon m (definite singular demonen, indefinite plural demoner, definite plural demonene)

  1. a demon

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

Norwegian NynorskEdit

 
Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn).

NounEdit

demon m (definite singular demonen, indefinite plural demonar, definite plural demonane)

  1. a demon

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

PolishEdit

 
Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Latin daemon (“lar, genius, guardian spirit”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, god, protective spirit”).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

demon m anim

  1. demon

DeclensionEdit

Declension of demon
singular plural
nominative demon demony
genitive demona demonów
dative demonowi demonom
accusative demona demony
instrumental demonem demonami
locative demonie demonach
vocative demonie demony

Derived termsEdit

RomanianEdit

Alternative formsEdit

  • dimon (regional, Moldova)

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Greek δαίμονας (daímonas), partly through the intermediate of (South) Slavic *demonь. Compare also Aromanian demun.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

demon m (plural demoni)

  1. demon
  2. (figuratively) a despicable person

DeclensionEdit

Declension of demon
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) demon demonul (niște) demoni demonii
genitive/dative (unui) demon demonului (unor) demoni demonilor
vocative demonule demonilor

SynonymsEdit

AntonymsEdit

Related termsEdit

Serbo-CroatianEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Greek δαίμονας (daímonas).

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /děmoːn/
  • Hyphenation: de‧mon

NounEdit

dèmōn m (Cyrillic spelling дѐмо̄н)

  1. demon

DeclensionEdit

Declension of demon
singular plural
nominative dèmōn demoni
genitive demóna demona
dative demonu demonima
accusative demona demone
vocative demone demoni
locative demonu demonima
instrumental demonom demonima

Derived termsEdit

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