demon

Forms

demon m (plural demoni)^[1] The old and popular form was dimon: „Toți dumnezeii limbilor sunt dimoni” “all the gods of the nations are demons” (Bible of 1688, Psalm 95:4).^[2][3] Learned and philosophical writing also uses daimon.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Modern Greek δαίμονας (démonas), the form DEX gives.^[4] Ciorănescu and Tiktin cite it as δαίμων (daímōn).^[5][2] Ciorănescu and Tiktin hold that it came partly through Old Church Slavonic демонъ (demonŭ), which Wiktionary gives as the source.^[5][2][1] DELR adds that Latin daemon and French démon, the etyma the DLR names, may have reinforced it later.^[3][6] MDA2 names all three as sources, a case of multiple etymology.^[7]

The Greek word is δαίμων (daímōn, “godlike power, fate, god”), which DELR, after Chantraine, connects with δαίομαι (daíomai, “to divide, distribute”): the god who allots each man his share.^[3][8] Old Church Slavonic also took the word from Greek.^[9] Compare Aromanian demun, pronounced with ⟨dh⟩.^[10][5]

The vowel ⟨i⟩ of the popular ⟨dimon⟩ is unexplained for Tiktin.^[2] Philippide took it as a taboo alteration, which Iordan rejected.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the Cazania de la Govora of 1642;^[2][3][7] DELR has dimon in Varlaam's Cazania of 1643, and MDA2 dates it to a text of 1650–1675.^[2][3][7] The sense is the Christian one: an evil spirit, a devil.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the old language the word named the devils of Christian belief and also the pagan gods and idols.^[3][7] From the 17th century the popular Moldavian dimon was used of people, a rogue or tormentor, and above all of naughty children (Ce cauți aici, dimoni? in Alecsandri).^[5][2] Regionally dimon also means a heavy, clumsy person.^[3]

The 19th century added the Romantic demon, a figure of revolt, heroism and sometimes beauty, and the poetic genius of unrest who stirs desires.^[4][11] Philosophy uses the form daimon for the guiding spirit of the Socratic tradition, with the derivatives daimonie and daimonicitate, recorded in Liiceanu in 1978.^[3]

Timeline

• 1642 – the Cazania de la Govora, Tiktin's first record.^[2]
• 1643 – dimon in Varlaam's Cazania.^[3]
• 1688 – dimoni in the Bucharest Bible (Psalm 95).^[2]
• before 1788 – the adjective ghemonicesc “demonic”;^[3] demonic itself from 1854.^[3]
• 1848 – demoniac “possessed”, in Negulici.^[3]
• 1978 – daimonie and daimonicitate in Liiceanu.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A devil, an evil spirit; in Christian belief a being that tempts people to evil and lives in hell.^[4][3][1]
2. (figurative) A wicked or despicable person.^[4][1]
3. (in Romantic writing) A figure of revolt, heroism and sometimes beauty;^[4][11] (in myth and poetry) a restless genius who stirs desires and passions.^[4][11]
4. (antiquity, philosophy, also daimon) A spirit that guides a person or a city; the Socratic inner voice.^[11][3]
5. (dated) An idol.^[3][7]

Word family

• demoniac
• demonic
• demonism
• demonist
• demoniza
• demonografie
• demonolog

Related words

• diavol
• drac
• Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. demon
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. demon
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 287
5. ^ a b c d e Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. demon
6. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. demon
7. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 639
8. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. δαίμων
9. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 1, 340
10. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 383
11. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. demon