daemon

Forms

daemōn m (genitive daemonis); third declension^[1] Also spelt dēmōn in curse tablets; the accusative plural is often daemonas.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “god, divine power, spirit”).^[4][1][5] Köbler, after Pokorny, connects the Greek word with Proto-Indo-European *dā- (“to divide”), and Etymonline gives a stem Proto-Indo-European *dai-mon- (“divider, provider (of fortunes)”).^[5][6] Ancient writers explained it otherwise: Augustine says the demons were named from knowledge, and Servius explains the word as “those who know everything”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro writes the Greek κακὸς δαίμων in his Menippean satires; in Latin the word appears from Apuleius,^[2] who uses it in On the God of Socrates for a spirit between gods and men, a genius.^[4][3][5]

Semantic evolution

For Apuleius and the Platonists a daemon was a spirit that went between gods and men, like the Roman genius or lar.^[4][7][3] In astrology Firmicus Maternus gives the name bonus daemōn (Greek ἀγαθοδαίμων) to one of the twelve places of the sky.^[7] In Christian writers, following the Greek of the Bible translations,^[6] the word means an evil spirit, a devil, and also a pagan god or idol;^[8][9][3] correptus daemone is “possessed by the devil”.^[3] Medieval Latin keeps these senses and has plant names such as fuga daemonum for St John's wort.^[10][11]

Timeline

• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for a spirit between gods and men.^[4][3][5]
• 343/350 AD – Firmicus Maternus names an astrological place bonus daemōn.^[7][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine explains the name as meaning “those who know”.^[2][5]
• c. 1200 – Borrowed into English, as demon, for an evil spirit.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A spirit between gods and men; a genius, lar.^[4][7][3]
2. (astrology) bonus daemōn, one of the twelve places of the sky.^[7][1]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An evil spirit, demon, devil.^[8][9][3]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A pagan god, idol.^[9][10]

Word family

• daemonicola
• daemonicus

Related words

• daemonium
• English demon

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press