θέω

Validation

Yes

Word-form

θεόν

Transliteration (Word)

theos

English translation (word)

God

Transliteration (Etymon)

theō

English translation (etymon)

run

Author

Plato

Century

5/4 BC

Source

John Philoponus

Ref.

Against Proclus on the Eternity of the World 645.10-11

Ed.

H. Rabe, Ioannes Philoponus. De aeternitate mundi contra Proclum, Leipzig: Teubner, 1899 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1963)

Quotation

ἔθει δὲ ποιητικῷ καὶ κοινῷ τότε χρώμενος ἢ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ θεῖν παρετυμολογῶν, ὡς αὐτὸς εἴρηκεν, θεὸν ὀνομάζει

Translation (En)

and by using the poetic and common custom, or by alluding the etymology of the word to theō "to run", as he has said, he attributes the name "god" (theon)

Other translation(s)

Modern Greek: και ακολουθώντας τότε την ποιητική και κοινή συνήθεια, ή και υποθέτοντας την ετυμολογία της λέξης από το θέω, όπως είπε ο ίδιος, δίνει το όνομα θεός  

Parallels

John Philoponus, Against Proclus On the Eternity of the World 637.1-6: εἰ τοίνυν το θεὸς ὄνομα τοῖς οὐρανίοις ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀεὶ θεῖν ὑπὸ τῶν πάλαι Ἑλλήνων τεθῆναι Πλάτων νενόμικεν ; John Philoponus On Aristotle’s Meteorology 17.21-23: οἱ πρὸ ἡμῶν ὑπολαμβάνοντες αἰθέρα τοῦτο τὸ σῶμα προσαγορεύουσιν ἐκ τοῦ ἀεὶ θέειν καὶ παῦλα τῆς κινήσεως μὴ ἔχειν καὶ θεῖον εἶναι οὕτως αὐτὸν ὀνομάσαντες

Modern etymology

Old derivative from root *dheh1- "to place" (τίθημι), identical with Armenian dik‘ "gods". The consonantal structure is preserved in compounds θέσκελος, θεσπέσιος, θέσφατος (Chantraine). Etymologically related to Latin fēriae "religious festival"

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word is still used in Modern Greek meaning ‘God’, the divine entity that has created and rules the world. It is also used for someone or something that we extremely love and appreciate (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of Modern Greek)

Entry By

Maria Chriti