idol

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈaɪ.dəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English idele, borrowed from Old French idele, later idole,^[2][3][4][5] from Late Latin īdōlum (“image, form, apparition”), used in Church Latin for a false god,^[2][3][4][6] from Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “image, phantom, idol”),^[2][3][4] from εἶδος (eîdos, “form, shape”) (see idea),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *weidos, related to words for seeing and knowing (see wise).^[2][5] The Germanic languages had first used a word for god with a prefix meaning “off”, such as Old English afgod.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An image of a deity used as an object of worship: about 1250, in The Story of Genesis and Exodus.^[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

The OED notes that the senses did not appear in English in the order of their development in Greek.^[7] Polemical use for images of saints is from 1545.^[7] Any object of excessive devotion has been called an idol since the mid-16th century, mostly in a condemning way:^[8] a thing from 1557 and a person from 1591.^[7] A statue or effigy (1548) is an obsolete sense.^[7] The screen idol dates from the early 20th century, but nobody wanted to be a pop idol until near its end.^[8] Idolatry is from the 13th century, idolater from the 16th,^[4] and idolize from 1598.^[2] Idyll also goes back to Greek eidos.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – an image worshipped as a god.^[2][7]
• 1545 – images of saints (polemical).^[7]
• 1557 – an object of devotion.^[7]
• 1591 – an adored person.^[7]
• 1598 – idolize.^[2]
• early 20th century – screen idol.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An image or other object worshipped as a god.
2. A false god; in Christianity and Judaism, any being other than God given divine honour.
3. A person or thing adored, often blindly or excessively: a pop idol.
4. Something visible but without substance; a phantom.

Word family

• idolatry
• idolize
• idolism
• matinee idol
• Moorish idol

Related words

• idyll
• idea
• eidolon

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press