δαίω1
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
δαιμόνων
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
daimōn
English translation (word)
divine being
Transliteration (Etymon)
daiō
English translation (etymon)
to kindle
Century
2/1 BC
Reference
fr. 387
Edition
Theiler, Posidonios. Die Fragmente, vol. 1, Berlin, De Gruyter, 1982
Source
Macrobius
Ref.
Sat. 1.23.7
Ed.
Robert A. Kaster, Macrobius: Saturnalia, Harvard University Press, 2011
Quotation
Nomen autem daemonum cum deorum appellatione coniungit (Plato, Phaedr. 246e) aut quia di sunt δαήμονες, id est scientes futuri, aut ut Posidonius scribit in libris quibus titulus est Περὶ ἡρώων καὶ δαιμόνων, quia ex aetheria substantia partita atque divisa qualitas illis est, sive ἀπὸ τοῦ δαιομένου, id est καιομένου, seu ἀπὸ τοῦ δαιομένου, hoc est μεριζομένου.
Translation (En)
He links the name of daemones with the name of gods, or because they are wise, that is, they know the future, or, as Posidonius writes in his book entitled About gods and heroes, because their nature is partly separated and divided from a fiery substance, either from daiomenos "kindled", that is, burning (kaiomenou), either from daiomenos "parted", that is, divided.
Modern etymology
Chantraine (1970, 247): "Δαίμων" derives from “δαίομαι”, meaning ‘to attribute, to divide’
Persistence in Modern Greek
The form "δαίμων" is used only in specific phrases (e.g., "ο δαίμων του τυπογραφείου" ("printer's error"). "Δαίμονας" instead of "δαίμων" (MG plural: "δαίμονες") is used in MG to denote 'the spirit(s) of evil' (Triandafyllidis Dict. of MG).
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology relying on the old idea that gods live in ether (aithēr), the upper part of the sky, fiery because of the sun (Homer Zeu… aitheri naiōn "Zeus… dwelling in ether", Il. 2, 412). It may have been suggested by the etymology by δαίω1 "to divide", mentioned immediately afterwards