English

god

/ɡɒd/
A deity or supreme being; a supernatural, typically immortal, being with superior powers, to which personhood is attributed.

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    Origin

    Inherited from Middle English god, from Old English god, originally neuter, then changed to masculine to reflect the change in religion to Christianity, from Proto-West Germanic *god n, from Proto-Germanic *gudą; see there for further origin.

    Cognates

    Cognate with Scots God (“God”), Yola God, Gud (“God”), gud (“god”), Saterland Frisian God (“God”), West Frisian God (“God”), god (“deity, god”), Alemannic German, Cimbrian, German, Luxembourgish and Mòcheno Gott (“God”), Central Franconian Jott (“God”), Dutch god (“deity, god”), Limburgish Gód (“God”), gód (“god”), Vilamovian Göt (“God”), Yiddish גאָט (got, “god; God”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Swedish gud (“god; God”), Faroese Gud (“God”), Icelandic goð (“idol, pagan god”), guð, Guð (“God”), Norwegian Nynorsk Gu, Gud (“God”), gu, gud (“god”), Gothic 𐌲𐌿𐌸 (guþ, “deity, god; God”).

    Not related to the word good or Persian خدا (xodâ, “god”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishgod
      • inheritedOld Englishgōd “a good thing, advantage, benefit, gift; good, goodness, welfare; virtue, ability, doughtiness; good…”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*gōd
        • inheritedProto-Germanic*gōdą “goods, belongings”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*god “good”
    • rootProto-Indo-European*ǵʰew- “to pour”

    Related: Scots God, Yola God, Saterland Frisian God, West Frisian God, Mòcheno Gott, Central Franconian Jott, Dutch god, Limburgish Gód, Vilamovian Göt, Yiddish גאָט, Swedish gud, Faroese Gud, Icelandic goð, Norwegian Nynorsk Gu, Gothic 𐌲𐌿𐌸

    Words built on it: god-

    Sources