deus

See also: déus and Deus

Catalan

Noun

deus

1. plural of deu

Verb

deus

1. second-person singular present indicative form of deure

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Galician

Etymology

From Old Portuguese deus, from Latin deus.

Noun

deus m (plural deuses)

1. god, deity

Related terms

• Deus

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Latin

Etymology

From Old Latin deiuos, from Proto-Italic *deiwos, from Proto-Indo-European *deywós. An o-stem derivative from *dyew- (“sky, heaven”), from which also diēs and Iuppiter. Cognates with with Ancient Greek Ζεύς (Zeús), Ancient Greek Διεύς (Dieús), Sanskrit देव (devá), Avestan 𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀‎ (daēuua), Welsh duw, Lithuanian dievas, Persian دیو‎ (div, “demon”).

The late Old Latin form *dēvos regularly lost its -v- before a rounded vowel, but it was retained before other vowels, giving rise to case forms both with and without -v-. The presence of -v- in turn prevented the intermediate vowel -ē- from being raised to -ī-, which led to an alternation between *dē- before back-vowel endings and *dīv- before front-vowel endings. The former gave rise to the nominative deus, while the latter became a separate word, dīvus. Finally, -v- was lost between identical vowels, giving the diī(s) forms, or contracted dī(s).

Despite its superficial similarity in form and meaning, the word is not related to Ancient Greek θεός (theós); the two come from different roots. A true cognate is fānum.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈde.us/, [ˈde.ʊs]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈde.us/, [ˈdeː.us]

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Noun

deus m (genitive deī); second declension (for the feminine form, see dea)

1. god, deity
   • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations (Latin text and English translations here)

     O dī immortālēs, ubinam gentium sumus? Quam rem pūblicam habēmus? In quā urbe vīvimus?.

     O ye immortal gods, where on earth are we? What is the government we have? In what city are we living?

   • 47 CE, Scribonius Largus, Compositiones 84.6-7,17-19

     Si non viderant medici, merito esset culpandi...Et, o bone deus, hi sunt ipsi, qui imputant suam culpam medicamentis quasi nihil proficientibus.

     If physicians didn't see this, they deserved to be blamed...And, O God, these are the very ones who blame their failure on medicines, as if they were good for nothing.

   • 405, Jerome and others, Vulgate, Daniel 1:2

     […] et asportavit ea in terram Sennaar in domum dei sui et vasa intulit in domum thesauri dei sui

     " […] which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god."

   • 405, Jerome and others, Vulgate, John 1:1

     In principio erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat Verbum.

     In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and God was the Word.

2. an imperial epithet (for deified emperors)

Declension

Second declension, with several irregular plural forms.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	deus	dī diī deī
Genitive	deī	deōrum deûm
Dative	deō	dīs diīs deīs
Accusative	deum	deōs
Ablative	deō	dīs diīs deīs
Vocative	deus dee	dī diī deī

Usage notes

• The regularly constructed vocative singular form would be *dee, but this inflection is not attested to in Classical Latin; polytheistic Romans had no formal use for vocally addressing one of the many Roman deities by a generic term for god rather than address a deity by proper name. In Late Latin, following Rome's conversion to monotheistic Christianity, Deus was adopted as the vocative singular form to address the Christian God, attested to throughout the 4th century AD Biblical Latin Vulgate Bible of St. Jerome. Some scholars suggest dive was used as the classical vocative singular, while others believe the form simply did not exist prior to Christian Latin. However the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae and Oxford Latin Dictionary assert that the classical vocative singular was in fact deus, citing its rhetorical usage by Roman physician Scribonius Largus in the 1st century AD.

Coordinate terms

• dea (goddess)

Derived terms

• deitās
• deus ex machina

Related terms

• deiferus
• deifico
• deificus
• Deus

Descendants

• Aragonese: dios
• Asturian: dios
• Bourguignon: dei
• Catalan: déu
• Corsican: diu
• Dalmatian: di, dai
• Franco-Provençal: diô
• Extremaduran: dios
• French: dieu
• Friulian: diu
• Galician: deus
• Istriot: deo

• Italian: dio
• Leonese: dius, dious
• Mirandese: dius
• Neapolitan: ddìo
• Occitan: dieu
• Portuguese: deus
• Romanian: zeu, zău
• Romansch: dieu
• Sardinian: déu
• Sicilian: diu
• Spanish: dios
• Venetian: dio

References

• deus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• deus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• deus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• deus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • God made the world: deus mundum aedificavit, fabricatus est, effecit (not creavit)
    
  • God is the Creator of the world: deus est mundi procreator (not creator), aedificator, fabricator, opifex rerum
    
  • the sovereign power of the gods: numen (deorum) divinum
    
  • to be an earnest worshipper of the gods: deos sancte, pie venerari
    
  • to honour the gods with all due ceremonial (very devoutly): deum rite (summa religione) colere
    
  • (ambiguous) worship of the gods; divine service: cultus dei, deorum (N. D. 2. 3. 8)
    
  • to make a pilgrimage to the shrines of the gods: templa deorum adire
    
  • to be regarded as a god: numerum deorum obtinere (N. D. 3. 20)
    
  • to deify a person: aliquem in deorum numerum referre, reponere
    
  • to consider as a god: aliquem in deorum numero referre
    
  • to approach the gods: propius ad deos accedere (Mil. 22. 59)
    
  • we believe in the existence of a God: deum esse credimus
    
  • to deny the existence of the gods: deos esse negare
    
  • belief in God is part of every one's nature: omnibus innatum est et in animo quasi insculptum esse deum
    
  • an atheist: qui deum esse negat
    
  • to pray to God: precari aliquid a deo
    
  • to pray to God: precari deum, deos
    
  • to pray to God: supplicare deo (Sall. Iug. 63. 1)
    
  • to pray to God: adhibere deo preces
    
  • to call the gods to witness: testari deos (Sull. 31. 86)
    
  • to call gods and men to witness: contestari deos hominesque
    
  • and may God grant success: quod deus bene vertat!
    
  • and may heaven avert the omen! heaven preserve us from this: quod di immortales omen avertant! (Phil. 44. 11)
    
  • heaven forfend: di prohibeant, di meliora!
    
  • to appease the anger of the gods: deos placare (B. G. 6. 15)
    
  • (ambiguous) to give thanks to heaven: grates agere (dis immortalibus)
    
  • (ambiguous) the favour of heaven: dei propitii (opp. irati)
    
  • (ambiguous) worship of the gods; divine service: cultus dei, deorum (N. D. 2. 3. 8)
    
  • (ambiguous) belief in god: opinio dei
    
  • (ambiguous) to have innate ideas of the Godhead; to believe in the Deity by intuition: insitas (innatas) dei cognitiones habere (N. D. 1. 17. 44)
    
  • (ambiguous) Nature has implanted in all men the idea of a God: natura in omnium animis notionem dei impressit (N. D. 1. 16. 43)
    
  • (ambiguous) to thank, glorify the immortal gods: grates, laudes agere dis immortalibus
    
  • (ambiguous) with the help of the gods: dis bene iuvantibus (Fam. 7. 20. 2)
    
  • (ambiguous) to sacrifice: rem divinam facere (dis)
    

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Old French

Alternative forms

• deuz

Etymology

From Latin duos, duas, the masculine and feminine accusative singulars of duo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dews/, [døws]

Numeral

cardinal number

2	Previous:	un
	Next:	trois

deus (nominative dui)

1. two

Descendants

• English: deuce (borrowed)
• French: deux

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Old Portuguese

Alternative forms

• Deus
• deꝯ (abbreviation)
• dṡ (abbreviation)

Etymology

From Latin deus (“god”). See deus for more information.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd̪ews̺/

Proper noun

deus

1. (Christianity) God
   • 13th century, attributed to Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, E codex, cantiga 3 (facsimile):

     Por ela nos perdõou / deus o pecado Dadam. / da maçãa que goſtou. per / que ſoffreu muit affan.

     Through her, God forgave us of Adam’s sin. Of the apple he tasted, because she felt very anguished.

Descendants

• Galician: deus, Deus
• Portuguese: deus, Deus

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Portuguese

Alternative forms

• deos (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Portuguese deus (“God”), from Latin deus (“god, deity”), unusual in that it was derived from the nominative instead of the accusative (deum), from deiuos (“god, deity”), from Proto-Italic *deiwos (“god, deity”), from Proto-Indo-European *deywós (“god, deity”), from *dyew- (“sky, heaven”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈdews/, /ˈdewʃ/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈdewʃ/
• Homophone: Deus

Noun

deus m (plural deuses, feminine deusa, feminine plural deusas, feminine deia (poetic), feminine plural deias)

1. god; deity

Synonyms

• divindade

Derived terms

• Deus
• deus-dará
• deus grego

Related terms

• deus ex machina
• diva
• divinal
• divinar
• divindade
• divinizar
• divino

 

Descendants

• → Javanese: ꦢꦼꦗꦺꦴꦱ꧀ (dejos)
  • → Dutch: Joost
    • Afrikaans: josie
  • → English: joss
• → Chinese Pidgin English:
  • → English: joss

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Walloon

Etymology

From Old French deus (compare French deux), from Latin duōs, masculine accusative of duo.

Numeral

deus

1. two