demon
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdiː.mən/
rhymes: -iːmən
homophone: daemon
Forms: form: demons
form: daimon
form: daemon
form: dæmon
Etymology: From Middle English demon, a borrowing from Medieval Latin dēmōn, daemōn (“lar, familiar spirit, guardian spirit”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, god, protective spirit”). Doublet of daimon.
Senses: examples: text: So what does the Gospel of Judas really say? It says that Judas is a specific demon called the "Thirteenth." In certain Gnostic traditions, this is the given name of the king of demons - an entity known as Ialdabaoth who lives in the 13th realm above the earth. Judas is his human alter ego, his undercover agent in the world. These Gnostics equated Ialdabaoth with the Hebrew Yahweh, whom they saw as a jealous and wrathful deity and an opponent of the supreme God whom Jesus came to earth to reveal.
Whoever wrote the Gospel of Judas was a harsh critic of mainstream Christianity and its rituals. Because Judas is a demon working for Ialdabaoth, the author believed, when Judas sacrifices Jesus he does so to the demons, not to the supreme God. This mocks mainstream Christians' belief in the atoning value of Jesus' death and in the effectiveness of the Eucharist.
ref: 2007 December 2, April D. DeConick, “What the Gospel of Judas really says”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Nov 2011, Essay:
glosses: An evil supernatural spirit.
An evil spirit resident in or working for Hell; a devil.
glosses: An evil supernatural spirit.
A false god or idol; a Satanic divinity.
glosses: An evil supernatural spirit.
A very wicked or malevolent person; also (in weakened sense) a mischievous person, especially a child.
examples: text: The demon of stupidity haunts me whenever I open my mouth.
glosses: An evil supernatural spirit.
A source (especially personified) of great evil or wickedness; a destructive feeling or character flaw.
examples: text: After a short spell on an adult psychiatric ward, she decided to find her own way to deal with her demons.
ref: 2013 January 21, The Guardian:
glosses: An evil supernatural spirit.
A person's fears or anxieties.
examples: text: Oh Anthony […] Thy Dæmon that thy spirit which keepes thee, is Noble, Couragious, high vnmatchable.
ref: c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
text: “You saw her. And I picked her up,” Lyra said, blushing, because of course it was a gross violation of manners to touch something so private as someone else's dæmon.
ref: 2000, Phillip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass:
glosses: A neutral supernatural spirit.
A person's inner spirit or genius; a guiding or creative impulse.
topics: human-sciences
mysticism
mythology
philosophy
sciences
glosses: A neutral supernatural spirit.
A tutelary deity or spirit intermediate between the major Olympian gods and mankind, especially a deified hero or the entity which supposedly guided Socrates, telling him what not to do.
glosses: A neutral supernatural spirit.
A spirit not considered to be inherently evil; a (non-Christian) deity or supernatural being.
examples: text: Let the orders now be that each demon is to stop all molecules from crossing his area in either direction except 100 coming from A, arbitrarily chosen to be let pass into B, and a greater number, having among them less energy but equal momentum, to cross from B to A.
ref: 1874, William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, “Kinetic Theory of the Dissipation of Energy” in Nature 9, 441-444
glosses: A neutral supernatural spirit.
A hypothetical entity with special abilities postulated for the sake of a thought experiment in philosophy or physics.
examples: text: He’s a demon at the card tables.
text: Chelsea defended like demons to snuff out Manchester City but this was a perfectly calibrated triumph, built upon a structured attacking approach, choosing the right moments to transition, and illuminated by the smoothness of Havertz’s technique.
ref: 2021 May 29, David Hytner, “Chelsea win Champions League after Kai Havertz stuns Manchester City”, in The Guardian:
glosses: Someone with great strength, passion or skill for a particular activity, pursuit etc.; an enthusiast.
examples: text: ‘That's much the best feeling to have.’ She dealt out the first row of ‘demon’.
ref: 1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 89:
topics: card-games
games
coordinate_terms: Canfield
glosses: A type of patience or solitaire (card game) played in the UK and/or US.
glosses: Any of various hesperiid butterflies of the genera Notocrypta and Udaspes.
Synonyms: sense: neutral spirit
word: genius
word: tutelary deity
word: god and Thesaurus:spirit
word: barghest
word: bogie
word: bogeyman
word: boggard
word: bogle
word: cacodemon
word: daeva
word: devil
word: evil genius
word: fiend
word: flibbertigibbet
word: ghoul
word: goblin
word: imp
word: kobold
word: nis
word: spook
word: troll
Hypernyms: word: creature
word: monster
word: spirit
word: See Thesaurus:spirit
Hyponyms: sense: theoretical entity
word: Maxwell's demon
word: Ahriman
word: Belial
word: Devil
word: dragon
word: Fury
word: harpy
word: incubus
word: lamia
word: larva
word: loup-garou
word: Moloch
word: nix
word: nixie
word: Satan
word: succuba
word: succubus
word: Titan
word: vampire
word: werewolf
Derived terms: bedemon
confront one's demons
dedemonization
demonagogue
demon catshark
demon core
Demoncrat
demon dialing
demon duck of doom
demoness
demonette
demon face syndrome
demonic
demonical
demonify
demonisation
demonise
demonish
demonism
demonist
demonize
demonkin
demonkind
demonless
demonlike
demonlore
demonocracy
demonography
demonolatory
demonology
demonomachy
demonomancy
demonomaniac
demonomist
demonopathy
Demonrat
demonship
demonslayer
demonspawn
face one's demons
half-demon
Laplace's demon
like a demon
nasal demon
nondemon
restricted demon
semen demon
she-demon
speed demon
Related terms: agathodemon
antidemonic
archdemon
cacodemon
counterdemonic
demonagogue
Demon core
demon dialing
demoness
demonette
demonhood
demoniacally
demoniac
demoniacal
demonianism
demonian
demonically
demonic
demonical
demonifuge
demonify
demonish
demonism
demonist
demonization
demonize
demonkin
demonkind
demonlike
demonlore
demonly
demonocracy
demonographer
demonography
demonolater
demonolatry
demonology
demonomagy
demonomancy
demonomania
demonomaniac
demonomist
demonomy
demonopathy
demonophobia
demonry
demonship
eudemon
half-demon
Maxwell's demon
nasal demon
speed demon