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Demons

 - 4 dictionary results

de⋅mon

  [dee-muhn]
Use Demons in a Sentence
–noun
1. an evil spirit; devil or fiend.
2. an evil passion or influence.
3. a person considered extremely wicked, evil, or cruel.
4. a person with great energy, drive, etc.: He's a demon for work.
5. a person, esp. a child, who is very mischievous: His younger son is a real little demon.
6. daemon.
7. Australian Slang. a policeman, esp. a detective.
–adjective
8. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or noting a demon.
9. possessed or controlled by a demon.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L daemonium < Gk daimónion, thing of divine nature (in Jewish and Christian writers, evil spirit), neut. of daimónios, deriv. of daímōn; (def. 6) < L; see daemon
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Demons
dai·mon   (dī'mōn')   
n.   Greek Mythology

  1. An inferior deity, such as a deified hero.

  2. An attendant spirit; a genius.


[Greek daimōn; see dā- in Indo-European roots.]
de·mon   (dē'mən)   
n.  

  1. An evil supernatural being; a devil.

  2. A persistently tormenting person, force, or passion: the demon of drug addiction.

  3. One who is extremely zealous, skillful, or diligent: worked away like a demon; a real demon at math.

  4. Variant of daimon.


[Middle English, from Late Latin daemōn, from Latin, spirit, from Greek daimōn, divine power; see dā- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

demon 
1387, from L. dæmon "spirit," from Gk. daimon (gen. daimonos) "lesser god, guiding spirit, tutelary deity," (sometimes including souls of the dead), used (with daimonion) in Christian Gk. translations and Vulgate for "god of the heathen" and "unclean spirit." Jewish authors earlier had employed the Gk. word in this sense, using it to render shedim "lords, idols" in the Septuagint, and Matt. viii.31 has daimones, translated as deofol in O.E., feend or deuil in M.E. The original mythological sense is sometimes written dæmon for purposes of distinction. The Demon of Socrates (1387) was a daimonion, a "divine principle or inward oracle." His accusers, and later the Church Fathers, however, represented this otherwise. The Demon Star (1895) is Beta Persei (in Ar. Algol "the Demon") so called because it visibly varies in brightness every three days. Fem. form demoness first attested 1638. Demonic is from 1662; demonize is from 1821.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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