Deus

See also Deus (disambiguation) and DEI

Deus (pronounced dā'əs) is the Latin word for "god" or "deity". It is derived from Dy�"us, the reconstructed chief god of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon, also a cognate of the Greek Ζευς (Zeus), but by the era of Classical Latin it was a general noun referring to any number of divine figures. The word continues to refer directly to God in the Portuguese language.

The word is often improperly pronounced as though it were pronounced like deuce, rhyming with "goose", when the properly pronounced word rhymes the "de" with day, followed by "us" expressed with a neutral vowel - day-us. Dei is an inflected form of deus, used in such phrases as Roman Catholic organization Opus Dei (work of God) and Agnus Dei (lamb of God). It is most often the genitive case ("of god"), but can also be a variant of the plural form, di. There is another plural sometimes used, dii, and a feminine form deae ("goddesses").

Thus the word "Deus," through "Dei," is the root of deism, pandeism, panendeism, and polydeism, ironically all of which are theories in which any divine figure is absent from intervening in human affairs.

Trivia

*In Arthur C. Clarke's novel 3001: The Final Odyssey, the term Deus has replaced God in the 31st Century. The word God being associated with religious fanaticism. The prevailing religious view in Clarke's story is Deism.

See also

Agnus Dei
Deus Abscondidus
Deus ex machina
Munificentissimus Deus
Nobiscum Deus
Opus Dei
Providentissimus Deus
Rector Potens, Verax Deus
Regnator omnium deus
Rerum Deus Tenax Vigor
Rex Deus
Sublimus Dei