GOD (WORD)

The English word '''god''' continues the Old English ''god'' (''guþ, gudis'' in Gothic, ''gud'' in modern Scandinavian, ''God'' in Dutch, and ''Gott'' in modern German), which derives from the Proto-Germanic ''
★ ǥuđán''. The Proto-Germanic meaning of ''
★ ǥuđán'' and its etymology is uncertain. It is generally agreed that it derives from a Proto-Indo-European neuter passive perfect participle ''. This form within (late) Proto-Indo-European itself was possibly ambiguous, either derived from a root ''
★ '' "to pour, libate" (Sanskrit '', see ''), or from a root ''
★ '' (''
★ '') "to call, to invoke" (Sanskrit '').^[1] Sanskrit ''hutá'' = "having been sacrificed", from the verb root ''hu'' = "sacrifice", but a smallish shift of meaning could give the meaning "one who sacrifices are made to".
Depending on which possibility is preferred, the pre-Christian meaning of the Germanic term may either have been (in the "pouring" case) "libation" or "that which is libated upon, idol" — or, as Watkins^[2] opines in the light of Greek χυτη γαια "poured earth" meaning "tumulus", "the Germanic form may have referred in the first instance to the spirit immanent in a burial mound" — or (in the "invoke" case) "invocation, prayer" (compare the meanings of Sanskrit '') or "that which is invoked".
A significant number of scholars have connected this root with the names of three related Germanic tribes: the Geats, the Goths and the Gutar. These names may be derived from an eponymous chieftain Gaut, who was subsequently deified. He also sometimes appears in early Medieval sagas as a name of Odin or one of his descendants, a former king of the Geats (''Gaut(i)''), an ancestor of the Gutar (''Guti''), of the Goths (''Gothus'') and of the royal line of Wessex (''Geats'') and as a previous hero of the Goths (''Gapt''). The Lombardic form of Odin, ''Godan'', may derive from cognate Proto-Germanic ''
★ ǥuđánaz''.
The name ''God'' was used to represent Greek ''Theos'', Latin ''Deus'' in Bible translations, first in the Gothic translation of the New Testament by Ulfilas. For the etymology of ''deus'', see ''
★ ''.
Greek ''theos'' is unrelated, and of uncertain origin. It is often connected with Latin ''feriae'' "holidays", ''fanum'' "temple", and also Armenian ''di-k`'' "gods". Alternative suggestions (e.g. by De Saussure) connect '' "smoke, spirit", attested in Baltic and Germanic words for "spook," and ultimately cognate with Latin ''fumus'' "smoke."
See El (god) and YHWH for discussions of the Hebrew names for God.

Contents

Capitalization

References

See also

Capitalization

The development of English orthography was dominated by Christian texts. Capitalized, "God" was first used to refer to the Judeo-Christian concept and may now signify any monotheistic conception of God, including the translations of the Arabic '' and the African Masai ''Engai''.

★ '' as "Lord God"

★ '' as "Lord God"

★ ''κυριος ο θεος'' As "Lord God" (in the New Testament)
The use of capitalization, as for a proper noun, has persisted to disambiguate the concept of a singular ''God'', specifically the Christian God, from pagan deities for which lower case ''god'' has continued to be applied, mirroring the use of Latin ''deus''. Pronouns referring to God are also often capitalized and are traditionally in the masculine gender, i.e. "He", "His" etc.^[3]

References

1. Persian خدا '' "god" may also be from either root.
2. Watkins, Calvert, ed., The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 2000.
3. However, in more recent times, some people have referred to God in feminine terms, such as "She" and "Her". (See: God and gender).

See also

★ Names of God