god English · revision 1806

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Beowulf)|origins=gem-pro *guþan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡɒd/ ''(UK)''; /ɡɑːd/ ''(US)''^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|god]], [[inh|ang|god|t=deity, God]] (plural neuter [[m|ang|godu]], masculine [[m|ang|godas]]),^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*guþan]],^(Etymonline) whose descendants include [[ofs|god]], [[osx|god]], [[nl|god]], [[goh|got]] (modern [[de|Gott]]), [[non|goð]], [[m|non|guð]] and [[got|𐌲𐌿𐌸|tr=guþ]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) The further origin is uncertain.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) One view derives it from [[ine-pro|*gheu(ə)-|t=to call, invoke]], so that a god was “the one invoked”, comparing [[sa|हवते|tr=hávate|t=he calls, invokes]];^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) another, given by Watkins, derives it from a root meaning “to pour (a libation)”, so that it may first have named the spirit living in a burial mound.^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) It is not related to [[good]], although that derivation was long popular.^(Etymonline)^(Skeat 1911)^(Chambers 2008) The Germanic word was originally neuter and became masculine after the Germanic peoples were converted to Christianity.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) It is not related to Latin [[m|la|deus]] or Greek [[m|grc|θεός|tr=theós]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A superhuman being worshipped as having power over nature and human fortunes; also the Christian God, an image of a god and a godlike person (Old English; about 725 in ''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline suggests that Old English ''god'' was closer in sense to Latin ''numen'' than to ''deus''.^(Etymonline) With Christianity it became the name of the one God, and in that sense is usually capitalized.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) Johnson (1755) still derived it from ''good''.^(Johnson 1755) Oaths by parts of God's body were common in Middle English (''for Goddes banes'' in Chaucer),^(GDoS) and the English habit of swearing ''God damn'' gave French ''goddam'', “an Englishman”.^(Weekley 1921) The highest gallery of a theatre was called ''the regions of the gods'' in the 1750s, later just ''the gods'', because its seats were nearest the heavens.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Weekley 1921) ''God from the machine'', a translation of ''deus ex machina'', is from 1868.^(OED 1989) The verb “to deify, to idolize” dates from 1595.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''god'' (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 825 – a superhuman being worshipped as a deity.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1000 – an image of a god; an idol.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1382 – ''the god of this world'', the Devil.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1386 – oaths such as ''for Goddes banes'' (Chaucer).^(GDoS)

+ * 1595 – verb, to deify, to worship as a god.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1601 – ''ye gods''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1750s – ''the gods'', the theatre gallery.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1868 – ''god from the machine''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # '''God''': in [[monotheism|alt=monotheistic]] religions, the creator and ruler of the universe; the supreme being.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # A superhuman being worshipped as having power over nature or some part of human life; a [[deity]].^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # An image of a god; an [[idol]].^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person or thing given excessive devotion: ''money was his god''.^(Collins 2023)^(Chambers 2008)

+ # A greatly admired or influential man.^(COED 2004)^(Chambers 2008)

+ # ''(the gods, informal)'' The gallery of a [[theatre]].^(COED 2004)^(Chambers 2008)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # '''God!''' Used to express surprise, anger or emphasis.^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(rare)'' To treat as a god; to [[deify]].^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[goddess]]

+ * [[gospel]]

+ * [[good-bye]]

+ * [[gossip]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Referring to the God of the monotheistic religions, the word is written with a capital letter and without ''the''.^(LDOCE 2009) Weekley noted how often it is disguised in oaths, as in ''swop me bob'' for ''so help me God''.^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}