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demiurge

 - 3 dictionary results

dem⋅i⋅urge

  [dem-ee-urj]
Use demiurge in a Sentence
–noun
1. Philosophy.
a. Platonism. the artificer of the world.
b. (in the Gnostic and certain other systems) a supernatural being imagined as creating or fashioning the world in subordination to the Supreme Being, and sometimes regarded as the originator of evil.
2. (in many states of ancient Greece) a public official or magistrate.
Origin:
1590–1600; < Gk dēmiourgós a worker for the people, skilled worker, equiv. to dmio(s) of the people (deriv. of dêmos the people) + -ergos a worker, deriv. of érgon work, with oe > ou

Related forms:
dem⋅i⋅ur⋅geous  [dem-ee-ur-juhs] , dem⋅i⋅ur⋅gic, dem⋅i⋅ur⋅gi⋅cal, adjective
dem⋅i⋅ur⋅gi⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To demiurge
dem·i·urge   (děm'ē-ûrj')   
n.  

  1. A powerful creative force or personality.

  2. A public magistrate in some ancient Greek states.

  3. Demiurge A deity in Gnosticism, Manichaeism, and other religions who creates the material world and is often viewed as the originator of evil.

  4. Demiurge A Platonic deity who orders or fashions the material world out of chaos.


[Late Latin dēmiurgus, from Greek dēmiourgos, artisan : dēmios, public (from dēmos, people; see dā- in Indo-European roots) + ergos, worker (from ergon, work; see werg- in Indo-European roots).]
dem'i·ur'geous (-ûr'jəs), dem'i·ur'gic (-jĭk), dem'i·ur'gi·cal (-jĭ-kəl) adj., dem'i·ur'gi·cal·ly adv.
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

demiurge 
1678, from Latinized form of Gk. demiourgos, lit. "public or skilled worker" (from demos "common people" + ergos "work"). The title of a magistrate in some Gk. city-states and the Achæan League; taken in Platonic philosophy as a name for the maker of the world. In the Gnostic system, "conceived as a being subordinate to the Supreme Being, and sometimes as the author of evil" [OED].
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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