θεός Ancient Greek · revision 2208

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Mycenaean (Linear B)|origins=ine-pro *dʰéh₁s}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /tʰe.ós/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /θeˈos/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /θeˈos/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''θεός''' (theós) ''m'' or f (genitive θεοῦ, feminine θεᾱ́ or θεή); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Mycenaean [[m|gmy|te-o]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ Boeotian, Cyprian and Cretan θιός, Laconian σιός, Doric θεύς; vocative θεός, later θεέ.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*tʰehós]],^(Wiktionary) [[inh|ine-pro|*dʰh₁sós]], a thematic form of an old s-stem noun [[m|ine-pro|*dʰéh₁s|t=god]].^(Wiktionary)^(Beekes 2010) Greek has the zero grade *dʰh₁s-, while Armenian and Latin point to the full grade; the -s- survives in [[θέσκελος|tr=théskelos]], [[θέσφατος|tr=thésphatos]] and [[θεῖος|tr=theîos]] (from *θέσ-ος).^(Beekes 2010)^(Etygram) Wiktionary takes the noun from the root [[m|ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-|t=to put, place]], that of [[τίθημι|tr=títhēmi]].^(Wiktionary)^(Etygram)

+

+ Its connection with Old Armenian [[m|xcl|դիք|tr=dikʻ|t=gods]] is generally accepted, and with it go Latin [[m|la|fēriae|t=festival days]], [[m|la|fēstus|t=festive]] and [[m|la|fānum|t=temple]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Etymonline) Wiktionary also compares Phrygian [[m|xpg|devos]].^(Wiktionary) Frisk still called the etymology uncertain.^(Frisk 1960) An older explanation from *θϝεσός, with Lithuanian [[m|lt|dvasia|alt=dvasià|t=spirit]], has been abandoned, since neither the metre nor the Mycenaean form shows a trace of the ϝ, and the Armenian word speaks against it.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Πάπυρος) Despite the likeness, it is not related to Latin [[m|la|deus]], whose Greek cognate is [[Ζεύς|tr=Zeús]].^(Wiktionary)^(Πάπυρος)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is on the Mycenaean tablets as ''te-o''.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary) In Homer it means a god or goddess, and the gods as against men: Zeus is “father of men and gods”.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940) It can also mean the divine in general, as when Eumaeus says that “god will give one thing and let another be”.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Classical Greek used it in many set phrases: σὺν θεῷ, “with God's help”, πρὸς θεῶν, “by the gods”, and θεοί, “gods!”, at the head of inscriptions.^(LSJ 1940) Groups of gods were the twelve gods, the gods of heaven and the gods below.^(LSJ 1940) Ὁ θεός could be the god behind a natural event: it is Zeus who rains and Poseidon who shakes the earth, and in Herodotus and the tragedians the sun is “the god”.^(LSJ 1940) Plato uses it with the article for god as the cause of good alone, and Plotinus for the one God.^(LSJ 1940) The feminine ἡ θεός means a goddess.^(LSJ 1940)^(Cunliffe 1924) Wiktionary records it as a title of rulers.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ It is one of the commonest words of the Septuagint, about 4,000 times, for the God of Israel, and in the plural for idols.^(Lust 2003) In the New Testament it is God, and “Son of God” is a title of Jesus.^(UBS 2023)^(BDAG 2000)

+

+ Medieval vernacular Greek had the form ''θιος'' and phrases such as “for God's sake” and “glory to thee, O God”.^(Kriaras) Modern Greek [[m|el|θεός|tr=theós]] is God and a god, and also anything one adores or a very handsome man.^(Πάπυρος) English words in ''theo-'' come from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mycenaean – The tablets have ''te-o''.^(Beekes 2010)

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' calls Zeus “father of men and gods”.^(LSJ 1940)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus says that “the god” rains, and calls the sun “the god”.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes swears by the twelve gods.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato makes god the cause of good alone.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – The New Testament calls Jesus “Son of God”.^(UBS 2023)^(BDAG 2000)

+ * 3rd century AD – Plotinus uses it for the one God.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek has the form ''θιος''.^(Kriaras)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|god]], a divine being.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(plural)'' The gods, as opposed to men.^(LSJ 1940)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ # The divine, God in a general sense.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(feminine)'' A [[m|en|goddess]].^(LSJ 1940)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ # Ὁ θεός, the god behind a natural event, such as rain, an earthquake or the sun.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(Septuagint, New Testament)'' [[m|en|God]], and in the plural idols.^(Lust 2003)^(UBS 2023)

+ # ''(astrology, plural)'' The planets.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A title of rulers.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ἄθεος|tr=átheos]]

+ * [[ἀθεότης|tr=atheótēs]]

+ * [[ἀντίθεος|tr=antítheos]]

+ * [[ἀποθεόω|tr=apotheóō]]

+ * [[ἔνθεος|tr=éntheos]]

+ * [[ζάθεος|tr=zátheos]]

+ * [[ἡμίθεος|tr=hēmítheos]]

+ * [[θεά|tr=theá]]

+ * [[θεολογία|tr=theología]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[θέσφατος|tr=thésphatos]]

+ * [[en|theosophy]]

+ * [[en|enthusiasm]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Herodotus says that the Greeks called the gods θεοί because they had “set” (θέντες) all things in order, from [[τίθημι|tr=títhēmi]]; others derived the word from [[θέω|tr=théō|t=to run]], after the running stars.^(Etygram)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}