daemon

English

Alternative forms

• dæmon
• demon

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek δαίμων (daimon, “a god, goddess, divine power, genius, guardian spirit”), from δαίω (daio, “to divide, to distribute destinies, to allot”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdiːmən/, SAMPA: /"di:m@n/
• Rhymes: -iːmən

Noun

daemon (plural daemons)

1. A demon.
2. (Greek mythology) A lesser deity between men and gods.
3. One's inner spirit or daimon.

Translations

a demon

Japanese: 悪魔 (ja) (あくま, akuma)

a lesser deity

Derived terms

• daemonic

Related terms

• cacodemonical
• cacodemon
• cacodaemon
• cacodemonic
• cacodaemonic
• cacodaemoniacal
• cacodaemonical

Etymology 2

From Maxwell's demon; a derivation from "disk and execution monitor" is generally considered a backronym.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdiːmən/, SAMPA: /"di:m@n/ or IPA: /ˈdeɪmən/, SAMPA: /"deIm@n/
• Rhymes: -iːmən or Rhymes: -eɪmən

Noun

daemon (plural daemons)

1. (computing, Unix) A process (a running program) that does not have a controlling terminal.

Translations

computing: a process that does not have a controlling terminal

Finnish: taustaprosessi (fi), daemoni (fi) German: Hintergrundprogramm (de) n. Greek: δαίμων (el) (δémon) m.

Japanese: デーモン (ja) (dēmon) Russian: демон (ru) (démon) m. Turkish: artalan süreci (tr)

Usage notes

• (Unix): Often a daemon will be a server.

See also

• background process

Anagrams

• moaned
• Modena

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Latin

Noun

daemon (genitive daemōnis); m, third declension

1. a demon

Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	daemon	daemōnēs
genitive	daemōnis	daemōnium
dative	daemōnī	daemōnibus
accusative	daemōnem	daemōnēs 1
ablative	daemōne	daemōnibus
vocative	daemon	daemōnēs

¹ May also be daemonīs.

Derived terms

• daemonicus