''Deus'' (, ) is the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word for '

god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

' or '

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

'. Latin ''deus'' and ''dīvus'' ('divine') are in turn descended from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

*'' deiwos'', 'celestial' or 'shining', from the same

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

as '' *Dyēus'', the reconstructed chief god of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon. In

Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...

, ''deus'' (feminine ''dea'') was a general noun referring to a deity, while in technical usage a ''divus'' or ''diva'' was a figure who had become divine, such as a divinized emperor. In

Late Latin Late Latin is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE, and continuing into the 7th century in ...

, ''Deus'' came to be used mostly for the

Christian God In Christianity, God is the eternal, supreme being who created and preserves all things. Christians believe in a monotheistic conception of God, which is both transcendent (wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe) an ...

. It was inherited by the

Romance languages The Romance languages, also known as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages, are the languages that are Language family, directly descended from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-E ...

in Galician and Portuguese ''Deus'', Catalan and Sardinian ''Déu'', French and Occitan ''Dieu'', Friulian and Sicilian ''Diu'', Italian ''Dio'', Spanish ''Dios'' and (for the Jewish God) Ladino דייו/דיו ''Dio/Dyo'', etc., and by the

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...

in Welsh ''Duw,'' and Irish and Scottish Gaelic ''Dia.''

Cognates

While Latin ''deus'' can be translated as and bears superficial similarity to

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

θεός ''theós'', meaning 'god', these are

false cognates False cognates are pairs of words that seem to be cognates because of similar sounds or spelling and meaning, but have different etymologies; they can be within the same language or from different languages, even within the same family. For exampl ...

. A true cognate is

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

, king of the

Olympian gods upright=1.8, Fragment of a relief (1st century BC1st century AD) depicting the twelve Olympians carrying their attributes in procession; from left to right: Hestia (scepter), Hermes (winged cap and staff), Aphrodite (veiled), Ares (helmet and s ...

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

(, or ; , ). In the archaic period, the initial Zeta would have been pronounced such that Attic Ζεύς would phonetically transliterate as ''Zdeús'' or ''Dzeús'', from

Proto-Hellenic The Proto-Greek language (also known as Proto-Hellenic) is the Indo-European language which was the last common ancestor of all varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean Greek, the subsequent ancient Greek dialects (i.e., Attic, Ionic, Aeol ...

''*dzéus''. By combining a form of ''deus'' with the

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

word for 'father' (, ), one derives the name of the mythical Roman equivalent of Zeus: the sky god ''Diespiter'' (), later called ''Iuppiter'' or Jūpiter, from

Proto-Italic The Proto-Italic language is the ancestor of the Italic languages, most notably Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages. It is not directly attested in writing, but has been reconstructed to some degree through the comparative method. ...

''*djous patēr'', descended from Proto-Indo-European root ''*Dyḗws*Pahtḗr'' literally meaning '

Sky Father In comparative mythology, sky father is a term for a recurring concept in polytheistic religions of a sky god who is addressed as a "father", often the father of a pantheon and is often either a reigning or former King of the Gods. The conc ...

'. From the same root is derived the Greek

vocative In grammar, the vocative case (abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and numeral ...

'O father Zeus' (), and whence is also derived the name of the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

sky god Dyáuṣ Pitṛ́ (

Vedic Sanskrit Vedic Sanskrit, also simply referred as the Vedic language, is the most ancient known precursor to Sanskrit, a language in the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is atteste ...

: , ), and

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

''*Tīwaz'' or ''Tius'' hence

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology and member of the . In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples, sacrifices his right hand to the monstrous wolf , who bites it off ...

Latin Bible

Latin ''Deus'' consistently translates Greek Θεός ''Theós'' in both the

Vetus Latina The ''Vetus Latina'' ("Old Latin" in Latin), also known as ''Vetus Itala'' ("Old Italian"), ''Itala'' ("Italian") and Old Italic, and denoted by the siglum \mathfrak, are the Latin Bible translations, translations of biblical texts (both Old T ...

and

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

. In the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

, Greek ''Theós'' in turn renders

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Elohim ''Elohim'' ( ) is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is plural in form, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly but not always the Go ...

(אֱלוֹהִים, אלהים), as in

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

1:1: *

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

In theological terminology

The word ''de-us'' is the root of

, and thereby of

deism Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin term '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...

pandeism Pandeism, or pan-deism, is a theological doctrine that combines aspects of pantheism with aspects of deism. Unlike classical deism, which holds that the creator deity does not interfere with the universe after its creation, pandeism holds tha ...

, and polydeism, all of which are theories in which any divine figure is ''absent'' from intervening in human affairs. This curious circumstance originates from the use of the word "deism" in the 17th and 18th centuries as a contrast to the prevailing "

theism Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of at least one deity. In common parlance, or when contrasted with '' deism'', the term often describes the philosophical conception of God that is found in classical theism—or the co ...

", belief in an actively intervening God: By 1888, it was written in the ''

Encyclopaedia Britannica An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...

'': "Although ''deus'' and ''theos'' are equivalent, deism has come to be distinguished from theism. The former word first appeared in the 16th century, when it was used to designate antitrinitarian opinions. In the 17th century it came to be applied to the view that the light of nature is the only light in which man can know God, no special revelation having been given to the human race." Followers of these theories, and occasionally followers of

pantheism Pantheism can refer to a number of philosophical and religious beliefs, such as the belief that the universe is God, or panentheism, the belief in a non-corporeal divine intelligence or God out of which the universe arisesAnn Thomson; Bodies ...

, may sometimes refer to God as "Deus" or "the Deus" to make clear that the entity being discussed is not a theistic "God".

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. Clarke co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A ...

picks up this usage in his novel '' 3001: The Final Odyssey''.

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

said of the Deists that they worship "the Deus of the Heathen, The God of This World, & the Goddess Nature, Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Druid Dragon & hidden Harlot".Samuel Foster Damon, Morris Eaves, ''A Blake dictionary: the ideas and symbols of William Blake'', 1988, page 103. In Cartesian philosophy, the phrase ''deus deceptor'' is sometimes used to discuss the possibility of an evil God that seeks to deceive us. This character is related to a

skeptical Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

argument as to how much we can really know if an

evil demon The evil demon, also known as ''Deus deceptor'', malicious demon, and evil genius, is an epistemological concept that features prominently in Cartesian philosophy. In the first of his 1641 ''Meditations on First Philosophy'', Descartes imag ...

were attempting to thwart our knowledge. Another is the ''

deus otiosus In the history of religion and philosophy, ''deus otiosus'' (Latin: "inactive god") is the belief in a creator God who has entirely withdrawn from governing the universe after creating it or is no longer involved in its daily operation. In Western ...

'' ('idle god'), which is a creator god who largely retires from the world and is no longer involved in its daily operation. A similar concept is that of the ''deus absconditus'' ('hidden god') of

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

. Both refer to a deity whose existence is not readily knowable by humans through either contemplation or examination of divine actions. The concept of ''deus otiosus'' often suggests a god who has grown weary from involvement in this world and who has been replaced by younger, more active gods, whereas ''deus absconditus'' suggests a god who has consciously left this world to hide elsewhere.

Latin phrases with ''deus''

''Nobiscum deus'' ('God with us') was a

battle cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religio ...

of the late

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

and of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. The name ''

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: People and fictional characters * Amadeus (name) Amadeus is a theophoric name, theophoric given name derived from the Latin words ' – the Imperative mood, imperative of the word ' ("to love") – and ' ("god"). As a Compou ...

'' translates to 'for love of God'. The genitive/dative ''dei'' occurs in such phrases as Roman Catholic organization ''

Opus Dei is an institution of the Catholic Church that was founded in Spain in 1928 by Josemaría Escrivá. Its stated mission is to help its lay and clerical members seek holiness in their everyday occupations and societies. Opus Dei is officially r ...

'' ('work of God'), ''

Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the "Lamb of God" is honoured within Christian liturgies descending from the historic Latin liturgical tradition, including those of Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism. It is the name given to a spec ...

'' ('

Lamb of God Lamb of God (; , ) is a Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/John#1:29, John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, " ...

') and ''

Dei Gratia By the Grace of God (, abbreviated D.G.) is a formulaic phrase used especially in Christian monarchies as an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch. In England and later the United Kingdom, the phrase was formally added to the royal sty ...

'' ('

By the Grace of God By the Grace of God (, abbreviated D.G.) is a formulaic phrase used especially in Christian monarchies as an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch. In England and later the United Kingdom, the phrase was formally added to the royal sty ...

'). The ablative/dative ''deo'' occurs in expressions as ''

Deo Optimo Maximo ''Deo optimo maximo'', often abbreviated D.O.M. or Deo Opt. Max., is a Latin phrase which means "to the greatest and best god", or "to God, most good, most great". It was originally used as a pagan formula addressed to Jupiter (mythology), Jupite ...

'' ('to God, most good, most great'). *''

'' *''

Deus ex machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( ; ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; 'God from the machine') is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is general ...

'' *''

Deus otiosus In the history of religion and philosophy, ''deus otiosus'' (Latin: "inactive god") is the belief in a creator God who has entirely withdrawn from governing the universe after creating it or is no longer involved in its daily operation. In Western ...

''/''

Deus absconditus ''Deus absconditus'' (Latin: "hidden God") refers to the Christian theological concept of the fundamental unknowability of the essence of God. The term is derived from the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, specifically from the Book of Isaia ...

'' *'' Deus sive Natura'' *''

Deus vult ''Deus vult'' () is a Christian motto historically tied to ideas of divine providence and individual interpretation of God's will. It was first chanted by Catholics during the First Crusade in 1096 as a rallying cry, most likely under the form '' ...

'' *'' Divs'' *''

Munificentissimus Deus ''Munificentissimus Deus'' () is an apostolic constitution published in 1950 by Pope Pius XII. It defines ''ex cathedra'' the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was the first and thus far the only ''ex-cathedra'' infallibl ...

'' *''

Providentissimus Deus ''Providentissimus Deus'', "On the Study of Holy Scripture", was an encyclical letter issued by Pope Leo XIII on 18 November 1893. In it, he reviewed the history of Bible study from the time of the Church Fathers to the present, spoke against th ...

'' *''

Quis ut Deus ' (or '), a Latin sentence meaning "Who slike God?", is a literal translation of the name Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people wi ...

'' *'' Rector Potens, Verax Deus'' *''

Regnator omnium deus In Tacitus' work ''Germania'' from the year 98, ''regnator omnium deus'' (''god, ruler of all'') was a deity worshipped by the Semnones tribe in a sacred grove. Comparisons have been made between this reference and the poem '' Helgakviða Hundingsb ...

'' *'' Rerum, Deus, tenax vigor'' *'' Rex Deus'' *''

Sublimis Deus ''Sublimis Deus'' (English: ''The sublime God''; erroneously cited as ''Sublimus Dei'') is a Papal bull promulgated by Pope Paul III on June 2, 1537, which forbids the enslavement of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (called "Indians of the ...

'' *''

Te Deum The ( or , ; from its incipit, ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to a date before AD 500, but perhaps with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin ...

'' *'' Unigenitus dei filius'' *''

Vox populi, vox Dei ''Vox Populi, Vox Dei'' is a Whig tract of 1709, titled after a Latin phrase meaning "the voice of the people is the voice of God" (Singular, as "Vox populi, vox deorum" would be Gods, plural.) It was expanded in 1710 and later reprintings as '' ...

References

{{Names of God Latin words and phrases Names of God Roman deities

Cognates

Latin Bible

In theological terminology

Latin phrases with ''deus''

See also

References