deidad

Forms

deidad f (plural deidades)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin deitās (“divine nature”).^[2][3][4][1] Augustine formed the Latin word from deus (“god”) with the suffix -tās, after dīvīnitās (“divinity”), and used it to render Ancient Greek θεότης (theótēs) more closely.^[1][5] In the City of God he introduces it with an apology: “Hanc divinitatem, vel, ut sic dixerim, Deitatem” “this divinity, or, if I may say so, deity”.^[6] Early spellings are Old Spanish deidat, deydat and deydad.^[7][8]

The same Latin word is Old Galician-Portuguese deidade, Catalan deïtat and French déité.^[9][10][11] The inherited word of the same root is dios.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The privilege that King Fernando granted to Seville in 1251 opens with the Trinity: los que creemos e otorgamos la deydat verdadera perdurable “we who believe and confess the true, everlasting Godhead”.^[8] Berceo's Vida de Santo Domingo (c. 1236, in a copy of the late 13th century) already speaks of three persons and one Deïdad.^[8] The DEMel cites a still earlier glossary entry for the Vida de Santa María Egipciaca, of about 1215–1220.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The divine nature, above all of the Trinity and of Christ, is the medieval sense: the Partidas read in a candle the body, soul and deidat of Jesus Christ.^[12] Alfonso X's General Estoria (1272–1275) also uses it for a god of the gentiles.^[12] The BDELC and the DCECH date the word only from the 15th century (Juan de Mena, about 1440; the Celestina).^[3][4]

Covarrubias in 1611 noted that a lord too fond of being revered was said to tener deidad.^[13] Autoridades added the false gods of the pagans, a word much used by the poets, and the flattering name for a beautiful lady, with examples from Calderón.^[14] The Academy defined it from 1884 as each of the false gods of the gentiles; the DLE now says “each of the gods of the various religions”.^[15][2] In internet slang it means “something excellent”.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1215–1220 – a glossary of the Vida de Santa María Egipciaca lists the word.^[7]
• c. 1236 – Berceo, Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos (in a late 13th-century copy).^[8]
• 1251 – the privilege of Seville: la deydat verdadera perdurable.^[8]
• 1272–1275 – the General Estoria uses it for a pagan god.^[12]
• c. 1440 – Juan de Mena, the BDELC's first record.^[3][4]
• 1532 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico.^[16]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records tener deidad of a haughty lord.^[13]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades records the pagan gods and the poetic name for a lady.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy defines it as each of the false gods of the gentiles.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A divine being, or the divine nature; divinidad.^[2][17]
2. A deity: each of the gods of the various religions: Los mayas adoraban a una deidad de la lluvia.^[2][1]
3. (Internet slang) Something excellent.^[1]

Related words

• dios
• divinidad
• deificar
• Latin deus
• Portuguese deidade

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. deidad
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. dios
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 498
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. deitas
6. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre, p. s.v. deitas
7. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. deidad
8. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. deidad
9. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. deidade
10. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. deïtat
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. déité
12. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. deidad
13. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 641
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 54
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 343
16. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. deidad
17. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. deidad