δαίμων

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From δαίομαι (daíomai, “to divide”) +‎ -μων (-mōn), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂-i- (“to divide, cut”). For similar semantic development compare Old Persian 𐎲𐎥 (b-g /⁠baga⁠/, “god”), Sanskrit भग (bhága, “dispenser, patron”) (usually applied to gods) beside Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬔𐬀- (baga-, “part”) and Sanskrit भजति (bhájati, “to divide, apportion”). Compare the etymology of English time.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /dǎi̯.mɔːn/ → /ˈðɛ.mon/ → /ˈðe.mon/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /dǎi̯.mɔːn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛ.mon/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈðɛ.mon/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈðe.mon/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈðe.mon/

Noun

δαίμων • (daímōn) m or f (genitive δαίμονος); third declension

1. god, goddess demigod
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.222
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.420
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 6.172
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 21.196
   1. divine power, deity
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 17.98
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.111
      • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1443
      • 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, Collected Works 135.33
      • 389 BCE – 314 BCE, Aeschines, Collected Works 69.38
      • 414 BCE, Aristophanes, The Birds 544
   2. guardian spirit (Latin genius), and so one's fate, destiny, fortune
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 5.396, (compare 10.64)
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 11.61
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 8.166
      • 472 BCE, Aeschylus, The Persians 158
      • 472 BCE, Aeschylus, The Persians 601
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1342
      • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 705
      • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 812
      • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 76
      • 480 BCE – 411 BCE, Antiphon of Rhamnus, Collected Works 122.44
2. departed soul
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Works and Days 121
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Works and Days 312
   • 472 BCE, Aeschylus, The Persians 620
   • 438 BCE, Euripides, Alcestis 1003
3. (ecclesiastical, biblical) demon, evil spirit
   • New Testament, Gospel of Matthew 8:31

Usage notes

• While δαίμων was sometimes used interchangeably with θεός (theós), when used together in a context, a δαίμων is usually a lower god than a θεός (theós).
• Even though it is attested mainly as a philosophical divine or spiritual entity (often with a negative sense), its earlier meaning should be semantically related to its root, giving us “ruler who divides [the supplies]”. After a given amount of time this meaning has been going through a demonization process (sic!), while the opposite can be affirmed for the apotheosis process θεός (theós) has met, which in turn initially meant “ruler” or, verbatim, “the one who puts in place”. Compare the word Λᾰκεδαίμων (Lăkedaímōn), meaning literally “the Laconian distributor [of the supplies]”.

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ, ἡ δαίμων; τοῦ, τῆς δαίμονος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ δαίμων ho, hē daímōn	τὼ δαίμονε tṑ daímone	οἱ, αἱ δαίμονες hoi, hai daímones
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς δαίμονος toû, tês daímonos	τοῖν δαιμόνοιν toîn daimónoin	τῶν δαιμόνων tôn daimónōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ δαίμονῐ tôi, têi daímonĭ	τοῖν δαιμόνοιν toîn daimónoin	τοῖς, ταῖς δαίμοσῐ / δαίμοσῐν toîs, taîs daímosĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν δαίμονᾰ tòn, tḕn daímonă	τὼ δαίμονε tṑ daímone	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς δαίμονᾰς toùs, tā̀s daímonăs
Vocative	δαῖμον daîmon	δαίμονε daímone	δαίμονες daímones
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• δαιμόνιος (daimónios)
• δεισιδαίμων (deisidaímōn)
• εὐδαίμων (eudaímōn)
• ἰσοδαίμων (isodaímōn)
• κακοδαίμων (kakodaímōn)
• Λᾰκεδαίμων (Lăkedaímōn)

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲇⲁⲓⲙⲱⲛ (daimōn), ⲇⲉⲙⲱⲛ (demōn)
• Greek: δαίμονας (daímonas)
• → Latin: daemon (see there for further descendants)
• → English: daimon

References

• “δαίμων”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “δαίμων”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “δαίμων”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• δαίμων in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• δαίμων in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• δαίμων in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• “δαίμων”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1142 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • deity idem, page 206.
  • demon idem, page 209.
  • destiny idem, page 217.
  • divinity idem, page 244.
  • doom idem, page 247.
  • familiar idem, page 305.
  • fate idem, page 309.
  • fortune idem, page 340.
  • genius idem, page 357.
  • god idem, page 365.
  • goddess idem, page 365.
  • lot idem, page 501.
  • luck idem, page 503.
  • spirit idem, page 802.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 297