God

:This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism. See deity, gods or goddesses for details on polytheistic usages. See Names of God for terms used in other languages or specific faiths. See God (disambiguation) for non-religious abbreviations.

Etymology

The word God continues Old English/Germanic god (guþ, gudis in Gothic, gud in modern Scandinavian and Gott in modern German). The original meaning and etymology of the Germanic word god has been hotly disputed, though most agree to a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form *khutóm, which is a passive perfect participle from the root *khu-, which likely meant "libation", "sacrifice". Compare:-

Related Topics:
Old English - Germanic - Gothic - Scandinavian - German - Etymology - Proto-Indo-European - Libation - Sacrifice

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• Vedic Sanskrit hu- = "to sacrifice".
• Greek khu-, kheu- = "to pour".
• Common Germanic strong verb geutan (Anglo-Saxon g?otan) = "to pour", English in-got.

The connection between these meanings is likely via the meaning "pour a libation". Another possible meaning of *khutóm is "invocation", related to Sanskrit h?ta.

Related Topics:
Libation - Sanskrit

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The same root appears in 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, who sometimes appears in Medieval sources as a name of Odin, 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).

Related Topics:
Germanic tribes - Geat - Goths - Gutar - Gaut - Odin - Wessex

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The word God was used to represent Greek theos, Latin deus in Bible translations, first in the Gothic translation of the New Testament by Ulfilas.

Related Topics:
Greek - Latin - Bible - New Testament - Ulfilas

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Philologically, Gk. theos is said to be akin to Zeus, the chief god in Greek mythology, who has Dios in a genitive form. L. Diespiter means Jupiter, chief god in L. mythology, dies + pater, day + father. In Skr. deva is a god, as derived from the root div, heaven, and diu denoting day, shine and brightness (L. niter). See Sky Father, and Dyeus.

Related Topics:
Sky Father - Dyeus

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Capitalisation

The development of English orthography was dominated by Christian texts. Capitalised "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 Allah and the African Masai Engai.

Related Topics:
Christian - Arabic - Allah - Masai - Engai

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In early English bibles, the Tetragrammaton was rendered in capitals: "IEHOUAH" in William Tyndale's version of 1525. The King James Version of 1611 renders

Related Topics:
Tetragrammaton - William Tyndale - 1525 - King James Version - 1611

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• YHWH as "The Lord"
• Elohim as "God"
• Adonay YHWH and Adonay Elohim as "Lord God"
• kurios ho theos as "Lord God" (in the New Testament)

The use of capitalisation, as for a proper noun, has persisted to disambiguate the concept of a singular God from pagan deities for which lowercase god has continued to be applied, mirroring the use of Latin deus. Pronouns referring to God are also often capitalised and are traditionally in the masculine gender, i.e. "He", "His" etc.

Related Topics:
Pagan - Gender

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