god

Alternative forms

• gawd
• Gawd
• God

Etymology

From Middle English god, from Old English god (“deity”), originally neuter, then changed to masculine to reflect the change in religion to Christianity, from Proto-Germanic *gudą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰutós (“invoked (one)”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewH- (“to call, to invoke”) or *ǵʰew- (“to pour”). Not related to the word good.

Pronunciation

• (General New Zealand, General Australian, UK) IPA^(key): /ɡɒd/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ɡɔd/
• (US, Canada, Ireland) IPA^(key): /ɡɑd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• enPR: gŏd
• Rhymes: -ɒd

Noun

god (plural gods)

1. A deity.
   1. A supernatural, typically immortal, being with superior powers.
   2. A male deity.
      • 2002, Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby:

        When ancient Greeks had a thought, it occurred to them as a god or goddess giving an order. Apollo was telling them to be brave. Athena was telling them to fall in love.

   3. A supreme being; God.

      The most frequently used name for the Islamic god is Allah.

2. Alternative letter-case form of God.
3. An idol.
   1. A representation of a deity, especially a statue or statuette.
   2. Something or someone particularly revered, worshipped, idealized, admired and/or followed.
      • Bible, Phil. iii. 19

        whose god is their belly

4. (figuratively) A person in a high position of authority, importance or influence.
5. (figuratively) A powerful ruler or tyrant.
6. (colloquial) An exceedingly handsome man.

   Lounging on the beach were several Greek gods.

   • Wilfred Owen, Disabled (poem)

     Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts.

7. (Internet) The person who owns and runs a multi-user dungeon.
   • 1996, Andy Eddy, Internet after hours

     The gods usually have several wizards, or "immortals," to assist them in building the MUD.

   • 2003, David Lojek, Emote to the Max (page 11)

     The wizzes are only the junior grade of the MUD illuminati. The people who attain the senior grade of MUD freemasonry by starting their own MUD, with all due hubris, are known as gods.

Proper noun

god

1. (very rare) Alternative form of God
   • 1530, William Tyndall, An aunſwere vnto Syr Thomas Mores Dialogue in The whole workes of W. Tyndall, Iohn Frith, and Doct. Barnes, three worthy Martyrs, and principall teachers of this Churche of England, collected and compiled in one Tome togither, beyng before ſcattered, & now in Print here exhibited to the Church (1573), page 271/2:

     And ſuch is to beare yͤ names of god with croſſes betwene ech name about them.

   • 1900, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, "The Happy Man" in The Wild Knight and Other Poems:

     Golgotha's ghastly trinity—

     Three persons and one god.

Verb

god (third-person singular simple present gods, present participle godding, simple past and past participle godded)

1. To idolize.
   • 1608, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Coriolanus, Act V Scene III:

     CORIOLANUS: This last old man, / Whom with a crack'd heart I have sent to Rome, / Loved me above the measure of a father; / Nay, godded me, indeed.

   • a. 1866, Edward Bulwer Lytton, "Death and Sisyphus".

     To men the first necessity is gods; / And if the gods were not, / " Man would invent them, tho' they godded stones.

   • 2001, Conrad C. Fink, Sportswriting: The Lively Game, page 78

     "Godded him up" ... It's the fear of discerning journalists: Does coverage of athletic stars, on field and off, approach beatification of the living?

2. To deify.
   • 1595, Edmund Spenser, Colin Clouts Come Home Againe.

     Then got he bow and fhafts of gold and lead, / In which fo fell and puiflant he grew, / That Jove himfelfe his powre began to dread, / And, taking up to heaven, him godded new.

   • 1951, Eric Voegelin, Dante Germino ed., The New Science of Politics: An Introduction (1987), page 125

     The superman marks the end of a road on which we find such figures as the "godded man" of English Reformation mystics

   • 1956, C. S. Lewis, Fritz Eichenberg, Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, page 241

     "She is so lately godded that she is still a rather poor goddess, Stranger.

See also

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Anagrams

• DOG, Dog, dog

Etymology

From Old Danish gōþær, gothær, from Old Norse góðr (“good”), from Proto-Germanic *gōdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to join, to unite”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡoð/, [ɡ̊oðˀ], [ɡ̊oːˀð], [ɡ̊oːˀ]
• Rhymes: -oð

Adjective

god (neuter godt, plural and definite singular attributive gode, comparative bedre, superlative (predicative) bedst, superlative (attributive) bedste)

1. good

References

• “god” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology

From Middle Dutch god, from Old Dutch got, from Proto-Germanic *gudą, from the Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰutós (“invoked (one)”). Compare English and West Frisian god, German Gott, Danish gud.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɣɔt/
• Rhymes: -ɔt
• (Belgium) IPA^(key): [ʝɔt]
• (Netherlands) IPA^(key): [xɔt]

Noun

god m (plural goden, diminutive godje n, feminine godin)

1. god, deity

Alternative forms

• good, goot, got
• (in other dialects) gaud (comparative bäter, beter)
• (in other dialects) gut (comparative bȩter)
• (in other dialects) gud (comparative biäter)

Etymology

From Middle Low German gôt, from Old Saxon gōd, from Proto-Germanic *gōdaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡoʊt/, /ɣɔʊt/, /ɣoʊt/

Adjective

god

1. (in some dialects) good (alternative spelling of goot)

Romanization

gōd

1. Romanization of 𐌲𐍉𐌳

Noun

god

1. superseded spelling of gód.

Noun

god m

1. Alternative spelling of got

Etymology

From Old English god.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡod/

Noun

god (plural gods, genitive goddes)

1. god

Adjective

god

1. Alternative spelling of gôt.

Noun

god

1. Alternative spelling of got.
2. Alternative spelling of gôt.

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *-ɢᴜ̓t’.

Cognates:

• Apachean: Western Apache -god, Chiricahua -go’
• Others: Hupa -ɢot’, Mattole -goʔł, Galice -gʷay’, Chilcotin -gʷə́d, Slavey -gó’, Dogrib -gò, Chipewyan -gór, Sekani -gʷə̀de’, Beaver -gʷəd, Lower Tanana -gᴜd, Hän -gòd, Ahtna -ɢo’d, Dena'ina -ɢət’, Eyak -ɢuʰd

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kòt], [kɣʷòt]

Noun

-god (inalienable)

1. knee

Etymology

From Old Norse góðr, from Proto-Germanic *gōdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to join, to unite”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡuː/, [ɡuʷː]

Adjective

god (neuter singular godt, definite singular and plural gode, comparative bedre, indefinite superlative best, definite superlative beste)

1. good

References

• “god” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Etymology

From Old Norse góðr, from Proto-Germanic *gōdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to join, to unite”). Akin to English good.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡuː/

Adjective

god (masculine and feminine god, neuter godt, definite singular and plural gode, comparative betre, indefinite superlative best, definite superlative beste)

1. good

References

• “god” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *gudą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰutós (“invoked; poured, libated”), from an original root *ǵʰewH- (“call, invoke”) or *ǵʰew- (“pour”). Germanic cognates include Old Frisian god, Old Saxon god (Low German gad), Dutch god, Old High German got (German Gott), Old Norse goð, guð (Danish and Swedish gud), Gothic 𐌲𐌿𐌸 (guþ). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek καυχάομαι (kaukháomai, “I extol, boast”), Old Irish guth (“voice”), Old Church Slavonic зъвати (zŭvati) (Russian звать (zvatʹ, “call”)).

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *gōdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ-, *gʰadʰ- (“to gather, align, match”). Cognate with Old Frisian gōd, Old Saxon gōd, Dutch goed, Old High German guot (German gut), Old Norse góðr (Swedish god), Gothic 𐌲𐍉𐌸𐍃 (gōþs).

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gōdaz.

Adjective

gōd

1. good

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *gōdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to join, to unite”). Compare Old English and West Frisian gōd, Old High German and Old Dutch guot, Old Norse góðr.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *gōdaz.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Germanic *gudą, from the Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰutós (“invoked (one)”). Compare Old English god, Old Frisian god, Old High German got, Old Norse guð.

Etymology 4

From Proto-Germanic *gudą.

Alternative forms

• guaud (Rumantsch Grischun)
• uaul, gòld (Sutsilvan)
• gôt (Surmiran)

Etymology

Of probable Germanic origin (compare German Wald, Dutch woud, English wold).

Noun

god m (plural gods)

1. (Puter, Vallader) forest

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *godъ. Cognate with Slovene god, Old Church Slavonic годъ (godŭ), Russian год (god).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡôːd/

Noun

gȏd m (Cyrillic spelling го̑д)

1. name day
2. anniversary, holiday
3. ring (on a tree)

Particle

god (Cyrillic spelling год)

1. generalization particle

   (t)ko god ― whoever

   što god ― whatever

   gdje god ― wherever

   koji god ― whichever

   Uzmi koji god hoćeš! ― Take whichever you want!

   kad god ― whenever

   čiji god ― whoever's

   kako god ― in whichever way

   kakav god ― of whatever kind

   koliki god ― of whichever size

   koliko god ― no matter how much/many

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *godъ. Cognate with Serbo-Croatian god, Old Church Slavonic годъ (godŭ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡóːt/
• Tonal orthography: gọ̑d

Noun

gód m inan (genitive godú or góda, nominative plural godôvi)

1. name day

Etymology

From Old Swedish gōþer, from Old Norse góðr, from Proto-Germanic *gōdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to join, to unite”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡuːd/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

god (comparative godare, superlative godast)

1. good (not evil), kind
2. good (tasting)

Adjective

god (comparative bättre, superlative bäst)

1. good (not bad), fine, useful

Etymology

From Old Frisian god, from Proto-Germanic *gudą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰutós. Compare English and Dutch god, German Gott, Danish gud.

Noun

god c (plural goaden)

1. god, deity