View source for demiurge

{{also|Demiurge|démiurge}}
==English==
{{was wotd|2017|July|8}}

===Etymology===
From {{der|en|grc|δημιουργός||one who [[work#Verb|works]] for the [[people]]; a [[skilled]] [[workman]], a [[handicraftsman]]}} (whence {{cog|la|dēmiūrgus}}, {{cog|fr|démiurge}}), from {{m|grc|δήμιος||belonging to the people, [[public]]}} (from {{m|grc|δῆμος||the people}}, from {{der|en|ine-pro|*deh₂mos||people}}, from {{m|ine-pro|*deh₂-||to [[divide#Verb|divide]]}} + {{der|en|grc|-ιος}}, from {{der|en|ine-pro|*-yós|pos=suffix creating an adjective from a noun}}) + {{der|en|grc|-ουργός||worker}} (from {{m|grc|ἔργον||[[labour#Noun|labour]]; [[task]]; [[work#Noun|work]]}}, from {{der|en|ine-pro|*wérǵom||work}}).

No relation with {{m+|en|demi-}} (as in {{m|en|demigod}}).

===Pronunciation===
* {{IPA|en|/ˈdɛ.mɪ.ɜːdʒ/|/ˈdiː-/|a=RP}}
** {{audio|en|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-demiurge.wav|a=Southern England}}
* {{IPA|en|/ˈdɛ.miˌɚd͡ʒ/|a=GA}}
* {{hyphenation|en|de|mi|urge}}

===Noun===
{{en-noun}}

# {{lb|en|[[Plato]]nic|_|philosophy}} The (usually [[benevolent]]) [[being#Noun|being]] that [[create]]d the [[universe]] out of [[primal]] [[matter#Noun|matter]].
#: {{ux|en|A '''demiurge''' or craftsman god takes pre-existing matter and fashions it in light of the eternal Forms.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=w:Proclus|tlr=[[w:Thomas Taylor (neoplatonist)|Thomas Taylor]]|chapter=[Chapter XXI] From the Axioms in the Phædrus concerning Every Thing Divine [it Follows] that Every Thing Divine is Beautiful, Wise, and Good|title=The Six Books of Proclus the Platonic Successor, on the Theology of Plato, Translated from the Greek; {{...|to which a Seventh Book [by the Translator] is Added, in Order to Supply the Deficiency of Another Book on this Subject, which was Written by Proclus, but since Lost. Also, a Translation from the Greek of Proclus' Elements of Theology. To which are Added, a Translation of the Treatise of Proclus, on Providence and Fate; a Translation of Extracts from His Treatise, Entitled, Ten Doubts Concerning Providence; and a Translation of His Treatise on the Subsistence of Evil; as Preserved in the Bibliotheca Gr. of Fabricius. [...]}} Two Volumes|location=London|publisher=Printed for the author, by [[w:Abraham John Valpy|A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy]],{{nb...|Tooke's Court, Chancery Lane; and sold by Messrs. Law and Co.; Longman and Co.; Baldwin and Co.; and all other booksellers}}|year=1816|volume=I|page=203|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=virOk8vExfcC&pg=PA203|oclc=21581141|passage=[T]he '''demiurgus''' is father, and power and intellect. And he possesses these things as much as possible on account of intelligibles. For he is a God as father, on account of them. He is also power, and the generator of wholes, and knows beings intellectually, on account of them. For in them intelligible knowledge first subsists. Much more therefore are father, power and intellect in intelligibles; from which also the '''demiurgus''' being filled, participates of this triad.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|chapter=Plato's ''Timaeus''|editor=w:Edward N. Zalta|title=w:Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-timaeus/|location=Stanford, Calif.|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, [[w:Stanford University centers and institutes#Center for the Study of Language and Information|Center for the Study of Language and Information]], {{w|Stanford University}}|date=13 March 2013|issn=1095-5054|oclc=224325075|passage=The universe, he &#91;[[Plato]]&#93; proposes, is the product of rational, purposive, and beneficent agency. It is the handiwork of a divine Craftsman ("'''Demiurge'''," ''dêmiourgos'', 28a6), who, imitating an unchanging and eternal model, imposes mathematical order on a preexistent chaos to generate the ordered universe (''kosmos'').}}
# {{lb|en|Gnosticism}} A (usually [[jealous]] or outright [[malevolent]]) being who is [[inferior]] to the [[supreme]] being, and sometimes seen as the [[creator]] of [[evil]].
#* {{quote-book|en|editor=[[w:Charles George Herbermann|Charles G[eorge] Herbermann]]|title=[[w:Catholic Encyclopedia|The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church]]|location=New York, N.Y.|publisher=Robert Appleton Company|year=1908|page=708, column 1|oclc=61963111|passage=The Gnostic '''Demiurge''' then assumes a surprising likeness to Ahriman, the evil counter-creator of Ormuzd in Mazdean philosophy. The character of the Gnostic '''Demiurge''' became still more complicated when in some systems he was identified with Jehovah, the God of the Jews or of the Old Testament, and was brought in opposition to Christ of the New Testament, the Only-Begotten Son of the Supreme and Good God.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|editor=Richard England|title=Design after Darwin: 1860–1900|location=Bristol|publisher=[[w:Continuum International Publishing Group|Thoemmes Press]]|year=2003|volume=1 (Metaphors and Metaphysics of Design. Key Statement of the 1860s.)|page=xiv|oclc=889348967|passage=This was the earnest attempt of a Christian to explain in some detail how God might act using natural law, although his critics noted that such a Creator had more in common with a gnostic '''demiurge''' than the transcendent God of the Judeo-Christian tradition.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=Tau Malachi|chapter=The Demiurgos and Evil|title=Living Gnosis: A Practical Guide to Gnostic Christianity|location=Woodbury, Minn.|publisher=w:Llewellyn Worldwide|year=2005|page=93|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=WWP1WLNDAJEC&pg=PA93|isbn=978-0-7387-0718-1|passage=Common to all authentic Gnostic schools are teachings on the '''demiurgos''' and archons. However, exactly what the '''demiurgos''' and archons are in the symbolic and mystical language of the various Gnostic traditions can be very different from one tradition to another. The word '''demiurgos''' means "creator of the world," "false creator," or "false god." Archons mean "rulers" and indicate spiritual or cosmic forces associated with the '''demiurgos'''. {{...}} [S]ome schools view the '''demiurgos''' quite literally as the God of the Old Testament, while others do not view Yahweh as the '''demiurgos''' at all.}}
# {{lb|en|figuratively}} Something (such as an [[idea]], [[individual]] or [[institution]]) [[conceive]]d as an [[autonomous]] [[creative]] [[force#Noun|force]] or [[decisive]] [[power#Noun|power]].
# {{lb|en|historical|Ancient Greece}} The [[title#Noun|title]] of a [[magistrate]] in a number of [[state#Noun|states]] of [[Ancient Greece]], and in the [[city state]]s ({{m|en|poleis}}) of the {{w|Achaean League}}.
#* {{quote-book|en|author=w:George Sale; et al.|chapter=Sect. III. The History of the Several States of Greece, from the Beginning of the Achæan League to Its Dissolution, and thence Succinctly to the Present Time|title=[[w:Universal History (Sale et al)|An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of Time.{{nb...|Compiled from Original Authors; and Illustrated with Maps, Cuts, Notes, &c. with a General Index to the Whole}}]]|edition=2nd|location=London|publisher=Printed for [[w:Thomas Osborne (publisher)|T[homas] Osborne]],{{nb...|in Gray's-Inn}}; [[w:Andrew Millar|A[ndrew] Millar]],{{nb...|in the Strand}}; and J. Osborn,{{nb...|in Pater-noster Row}}|year=1747|volume=VII|section=book II (The Grecian and Asiatic History), chapter I (The History of Sparta, from Lycurgus, to Its Being Joined by Philpœmen to the Achæans)|page=225|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=0IMaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA225|oclc=9051170|passage=The '''''demiurgi''''' were next in power to the ''prætor'', and therefore [[styled|ſtiled]] by {{w|Polybius}} and {{w|Livy}}, the ſupreme magiſtrates of the ''Achæans''. They were ten in number, choſen by the general aſſembly from among the moſt eminent men of the whole league for prudence, equity, and experience. It was their office to aſſiſt, with their advice, the ''prætor'', who was to ſay nothing before the aſſembly, but what had been previouſly approved of by the major part of the '''''demiurgi'''''.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=Shimon Applebaum|chapter=The Greek Colonization|title=Jews and Greeks in Ancient Cyrene|series=Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity|seriesvolume=28|location=Leiden|publisher=[[w:Brill Publishers|E. J. Brill]]|year=1979|page=39|pageurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=7bsUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA39|isbn=978-90-04-05970-2|passage=An important Cyrenean inscription of the 4th century, defines the functions of the '''demiurgi''' in a given situation and adds that they are discharged by these magistrates in the cities (of Libya), by the hellenodikai in the Temple of Zeus Olympios (i.e. in Olympia), by the amphiktyons at Delphi, and by the hieromnamones in the Temple of Zeus Lykaios (the Lyceum of Arcadia).}}

====Usage notes====
The word is capitalized as {{l|en|Demiurge}} when used as a name; however, in practice capitalization is inconsistent.

====Alternative forms====
* {{l|en|Demiurge}}
* {{l|en|demiurgos}} (''plural'' {{l|en|demiurgoi}}) {{qualifier|based on the Greek word; more common in earlier works}}
* {{l|en|demiurgus}} (''plural'' {{l|en|demiurgi}}) {{qualifier|based on the Latin word; more common in earlier works}}

====Derived terms====
{{col-auto|en|demiurgeous
|{{l|en|demiurgic}}, {{l|en|demiurgical}}|demiurgically}}

====Translations====
{{trans-top|being that created the universe}}
* Ancient Greek: {{t|grc|δημιουργός|m}}
* Catalan: {{t+|ca|demiürg|m}}
* Chinese:
*: Mandarin: {{t|cmn|巨匠造物主|tr=Jùjiàng Zàowùzhǔ}}, {{t|cmn|德謬哥|tr=démiùgē}}, {{t|cmn|黛米烏爾|tr=dàimǐwū'ěr}}
* Czech: {{t|cs|demiurg|m}}
* Danish: {{t|da|demiurg|c}}
* Dutch: {{t+|nl|demiurg|m}}
* Esperanto: {{t|eo|demiurgo}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|demiurgi}}
* French: {{t+|fr|démiurge|m}}
* Galician: {{t|gl|demiurgo|m}}
* Georgian: {{t+|ka|დემიურგი}}
* German: {{t+|de|Demiurg|m}}
* Hebrew: {{t|he|בורא עולם}}
* Indonesian: {{t|id|demiurge}}
* Italian: {{t+|it|demiurgo|m}}
* Japanese: {{t|ja|デミウルゴス|tr=demiurugosu}}
* Kazakh: {{t|kk|демиург}}
* Korean: {{t|ko|데미우르고스}}
* Kyrgyz: {{t|ky|демиург}}
* Latin: {{t|la|dēmiūrgus|m}}
* Latvian: {{t+|lv|demiurgs|m}}
* Norwegian: {{t|no|demiurg|m}}
* Persian: {{t|fa|عقل فعال}}
* Polish: {{t+|pl|demiurg|m}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|demiurgo|m}}
* Romanian: {{t+|ro|demiurg|m}}
* Russian: {{t+|ru|демиу́рг|m}}
* Slovene: {{t|sl|demiúrg|m}}
* Spanish: {{t+|es|demiurgo|m}}
* Ukrainian: {{t|uk|деміу́рг|m}}
* Vietnamese: {{t|vi|đấng tạo hóa}}
{{trans-bottom}}

===Further reading===
* {{pedia}}
* {{pedia|demiurge (magistrate)}}
* {{pedia|demiurge (disambiguation)}}

{{C|en|Ancient Greece}}

==Latin==

===Noun===
{{head|la|noun form|head=dēmiūrge}}

# {{inflection of|la|dēmiūrgus||voc|s}}