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A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having ... An alternate etymology for the term "god" comes from the Proto ...
God entered English when the language still had a system of grammatical gender.The word and its cognates were initially neutral but underwent transition when their speakers converted to Christianity, "as a means of distinguishing the personal God of the Christians from the impersonal divine powers acknowledged by pagans."
In the Hebrew Bible, God is also given a personal name, Yahweh, in contrast to the genetic name, and in origin possibly the name of an Edomite or Midianite deity who was adopted into ancient Israelite religion. [11] In many English translations of the Bible, Yahweh is translated as "the LORD" with "Lord" in all caps. [12]
Deus (Classical Latin:, Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈd̪ɛː.us]) is the Latin word for 'god' or 'deity'. Latin deus and dīvus ('divine') are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European *deiwos, 'celestial' or 'shining', from the same root as *Dyēus, the reconstructed chief god of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon.
El (/ ɛ l / EL; also ' Il, Ugaritic: 𐎛𐎍 ʾīlu; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤋 ʾīl; [7] Hebrew: אֵל ʾēl; Syriac: ܐܺܝܠ ʾīyl; Arabic: إل ʾil or إله ʾilāh [clarification needed]; cognate to Akkadian: 𒀭, romanized: ilu) is a Northwest Semitic word meaning 'god' or 'deity', or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities.
Religions that revolved around moralizing gods may have facilitated the rise of large, cooperative groups of unrelated individuals. [64] The states born out of the Neolithic Revolution, such as those of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, were theocracies with chiefs, kings and emperors playing dual roles of political and spiritual leaders. [36]
In southern Israelite traditions, "Baal" was a god that was worshipped in Jerusalem. His worshippers saw him as compatible or identical with Yahweh and honored him with human sacrifices and fragrant meal offerings. Eventually, the Chronicler(s) disapproved of both "Baals" whilst the Deuteronomists used "Baals" for any god they disapproved of. [73]
A theonym (from Greek theos (Θεός), 'god', attached to onoma (ὄνομα), ' name ') is a proper name of a deity. [1] [2] Theonymy, the study of divine proper names, is a branch of onomastics, the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. Theonymy helps develop an understanding of the function and societal views of ...