Deity, Divine and Tuesday All Share One Root
A deity is a god. The Indo-European root behind the word means to shine, and it turns up in surprising places.
A deity is a god or goddess. The Latin *deus* rests on an Indo-European root meaning to shine or the bright sky, and its descendants are scattered widely: *divine*, *deify*, the Greek *Zeus*, the Sanskrit *deva*, and — through the Germanic god Tiw — the English *Tuesday*. All of them trace back to daylight. *Deity* is also the polite general term when a writer wants to avoid naming a particular god.
- A god. *An ancient deity.*
- Divine nature. *The deity of the emperor.*
- Divine — of a god. *Divine will.*
- Deify — to make a god of. *They deified him.*
- Latin — *deus*, god. *The source word.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | deity | A local deity. |
| Plural | deities | Household deities. |
| Adjective | divine | Divine right. |
| Verb | deify | To deify a ruler. |
| Latin | deus | God. |
- The temple honoured several deities.Religion.
- Roman emperors were deified after death.History.
- Tuesday is named after the god Tiw.Etymology.
The shining-sky family
- Deity, divine, deify — Latin *deus*
- Zeus — Greek, the same root
- Deva — Sanskrit for a god
- Tuesday — from Tiw, a Germanic sky god
- Journal and diary — from *dies*, day, the same bright root
Late Latin *deitas*, from Latin *deus*, god, from an Indo-European root meaning to shine or the bright sky.
Is deity the same as god?
In meaning yes, but deity is more formal and more often used when the writer is not naming a specific god.
Is Tuesday related to deity?
Through a very old shared root, yes. Tiw was a sky god whose name descends from the same source as Latin deus.