demon
English edit
For quotations using this term, see Citations:demon.
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
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.
Alternative forms edit
Noun edit
demon (plural demons)
- An evil supernatural spirit.
- An evil spirit resident in or working for Hell; a devil. [from 10th c.]
- 2007 December 2, April D. DeConick, “What the Gospel of Judas really says”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 November 2011, Essay[2]:
- So what does the Gospel of Judas really say? It says that Judas is a specific demon called the "Thirteenth." In certain Gnostic traditions, this is the given name of the king of demons - an entity known as Ialdabaoth who lives in the 13th realm above the earth. Judas is his human alter ego, his undercover agent in the world. These Gnostics equated Ialdabaoth with the Hebrew Yahweh, whom they saw as a jealous and wrathful deity and an opponent of the supreme God whom Jesus came to earth to reveal.
Whoever wrote the Gospel of Judas was a harsh critic of mainstream Christianity and its rituals. Because Judas is a demon working for Ialdabaoth, the author believed, when Judas sacrifices Jesus he does so to the demons, not to the supreme God. This mocks mainstream Christians' belief in the atoning value of Jesus' death and in the effectiveness of the Eucharist.
- (now chiefly historical) A false god or idol; a Satanic divinity. [from 10th c.]
- A very wicked or malevolent person; also (in weakened sense) a mischievous person, especially a child. [from 16th c.]
- 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.
- (in the plural) A person's fears or anxieties. [from 19th c.]
- 2013 January 21, The Guardian:
- After a short spell on an adult psychiatric ward, she decided to find her own way to deal with her demons.
- An evil spirit resident in or working for Hell; a devil. [from 10th c.]
- A neutral supernatural spirit.
- A person's inner spirit or genius; a guiding or creative impulse. [from 14th c.]
- c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
- 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.
- (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.]
- A spirit not considered to be inherently evil; a (non-Christian) deity or supernatural being. [from 19th c.]
- 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.
- 1874, William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, “Kinetic Theory of the Dissipation of Energy” in Nature 9, 441-444:
- A person's inner spirit or genius; a guiding or creative impulse. [from 14th c.]
- 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[3]:
- 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.
- (card games) A type of patience or solitaire (card game) played in the UK and/or US. [from 19th c.]
- Coordinate term: Canfield
- 1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 89:
- ‘That's much the best feeling to have.’ She dealt out the first row of ‘demon’.
- Any of various hesperiid butterflies of the genera Notocrypta and Udaspes.
Usage notes edit
Meanings drawing on the neutral, ancient Greek conception now often distinguish themselves by the variant spellings daimon or daemon.
Synonyms edit
- (evil spirit): See Thesaurus:demon
- (neutral spirit): genius, tutelary deity, see also Thesaurus:god and Thesaurus:spirit
Hyponyms edit
- (evil spirit): See Thesaurus:demon
- (theoretical entity): Maxwell's demon
Derived terms edit
- bedemon
- confront one's demons
- demonagogue
- demon catshark
- demon catshark
- demon core
- demon dialing
- demon duck of doom
- demoness
- demonette
- demonic
- demonical
- demonify
- demonish
- demonism
- demonist
- demonist
- demonize
- demonkin
- demonkind
- demonless
- demonlike
- demonlore
- demonography
- demonolatory
- demonology
- demonomachy
- demonomancy
- demonomaniac
- demonomist
- demonopathy
- demonship
- demonslayer
- demonspawn
- face one's demons
- half-demon
- like a demon
- nasal demon
- nondemon
- semen demon
- semen demon
- speed demon
Related terms edit
- demonkin
- agathodemon
- antidemonic
- archdemon
- cacodemon
- counterdemonic
- Demon core
- demon dialing
- demonagogue
- demonette
- demonhood
- demonian
- demonic, demonical
- demoniac, demoniacal
- demonifuge
- demonify
- demonish
- demonism
- demonist
- demonize
- demoness
- demonkind
- demonlike
- demonlore
- demonly
- demonry
- demonship
- demonocracy
- demonography
- demonographer
- demonolater
- demonolatry
- demonology
- demonomagy
- demonomancy
- demonomania
- demonomaniac
- demonomist
- demonomy
- demonopathy
- demonophobia
- eudemon
- half-demon
- Maxwell's demon
- nasal demon
- speed demon
Translations edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Etymology 2 edit
distinct electron motion + -on
Noun edit
demon (plural demons)
- (physics) Acronym of distinct electron motion particle: A quasiparticle, a type of massless neutral electron excitation associated with superconductivity.
Synonyms edit
Hypernyms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- Pines' demon on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Etymology 3 edit
From Maxwell's demon; a derivation from “disk and execution monitor” is generally considered a backronym.
Alternative forms edit
Noun edit
demon (plural demons)
Anagrams edit
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
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.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Finnish edit
Noun edit
demon
Anagrams edit
Latin edit
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈdeː.mon/, [ˈd̪eːmɔn]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈde.mon/, [ˈd̪ɛːmon]
Noun edit
dēmon m
Middle English edit
Etymology edit
From Medieval Latin dēmōn, daemōn, from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn). Doublet of tyme (“time”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
demon (plural demones)
Descendants edit
- English: demon
References edit
- “dēmōn, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-25.
Norwegian Bokmål edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn).
Noun edit
demon m (definite singular demonen, indefinite plural demoner, definite plural demonene)
- a demon
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
References edit
- “demon” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn).
Noun edit
demon m (definite singular demonen, indefinite plural demonar, definite plural demonane)
- a demon
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
References edit
- “demon” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old Irish edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Latin daemōn, from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn), though the plural seems to be from daemonia, the plural of the diminutive daemonium.[1]
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
demon m (genitive demuin, nominative plural demna)
- demon, devil
- the Devil
- c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 9d24
- arna dich cách assa dligud i n-adaltras tri láthar demuin et tri bar nebcongabthetit-si
- lest everyone go out of his duty into adultery through the Devil’s machination and through your incontinence
- c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 9d24
Declension edit
Masculine o-stem | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | demon, demun | demonL, demun | demnaL |
Vocative | demuin | demonL, demun | demnuH |
Accusative | demonN, demun | demonL, demun | demnaiH |
Genitive | demuinL | demon, demun | demonN, demun, demneN |
Dative | demonL, demun | demnaib, demnib | demnaib, demnib |
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
|
Descendants edit
Mutation edit
Old Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Nasalization |
demon | demon pronounced with /ð(ʲ)-/ |
ndemon |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
References edit
- ^ Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940, reprinted 2003), D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, § 280, page 178
Further reading edit
- G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “demon”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
Polish edit
Etymology edit
Learned borrowing from Latin daemon (“lar, genius, guardian spirit”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, god, protective spirit”). Sense 2 is a semantic loan from English daemon.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
demon m animal
- (mythology, religion) demon (evil supernatural spirit)
- (computing) daemon (running program that does not have a controlling terminal)
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
- demonizować impf, zdemonizować pf
Further reading edit
Romanian edit
Alternative forms edit
- dimon — regional, Moldova
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Greek δαίμονας (daímonas), partly through the intermediate of (South) Slavic *demonь. Compare also Aromanian demun.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
demon m (plural demoni)
- demon
- (figuratively) a despicable person
Declension edit
Synonyms edit
Antonyms edit
Related terms edit
Serbo-Croatian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Greek δαίμονας (daímonas).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
dèmōn m (Cyrillic spelling дѐмо̄н)
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
Swedish edit
Alternative forms edit
- dæmon (archaic)
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn).
Noun edit
demon c
- a demon (evil spirit)
- (Greek mythology) a demon (neutral spirit)
- (in the plural) a demon (personification of anxiety and the like)
- kämpa mot sina inre demoner
- fight one's inner demons
Declension edit
Declension of demon | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | demon | demonen | demoner | demonerna |
Genitive | demons | demonens | demoners | demonernas |
Related terms edit
See also edit
- jävel (used in the sense of being a demon at something)
References edit
- demon in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- demon in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- demon in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
- demon in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)