god

A2 Topic:Religion & Belief

US /ɡɑd/ UK /ɡɒd/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like gad /æ/ vs /ɑ/ Sounds like goad /ɑ/ vs /oʊ/

Freq #143

Meanings

1

noun
A supernatural being with great powers that people worship.

The ancient Greeks worshipped many gods and goddesses.
2

name
The single supreme being worshipped in religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

She prayed to God every night.
3

noun
A person who is admired for being extremely good at something.

To his fans, the singer was a god.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

deity divinitygodshipmanitou

Opposites

devil satan

Word family

Forms gods

Derived forms antigodbegodbelly-goddegoddemi-goddemigodex-godexgodg-dgiddygod-awfulgod-child

Related forms agnosticismapatheismatheismbitheismdeismditheismdivinegnosticismhenotheismkathenotheismmonolatrismmonotheism

Appears in

Phrases (2)

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Proverbs (36)

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Simplified etymology

God is an Old English word related to similar words in German and the Scandinavian languages. It is unrelated to Latin deus, associated with divine, and Greek theos, found in theology.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English god, from Old English god, originally neuter, then changed to masculine to reflect the change in religion to Christianity, from Proto-West Germanic *god n, from Proto-Germanic *gudą; see there for further origin. Cognates Cognate with Scots God (“God”), Yola God, Gud (“God”), gud (“god”), Saterland Frisian God (“God”), West Frisian God (“God”), god (“deity, god”), Alemannic German, Cimbrian, German, Luxembourgish and Mòcheno Gott (“God”), Central Franconian Jott (“God”), Dutch god (“deity, god”), Limburgish Gód (“God”), gód (“god”), Vilamovian Göt (“God”), Yiddish…

*ǵʰew- Proto-Indo-European god Old English *god Proto-West Germanic *gudą Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Religion & Belief

External links

# god

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, name
**IPA (US):** /ɡɑd/
**IPA (UK):** /ɡɒd/
**Frequency rank:** 143

## Meanings
1. A supernatural being with great powers that people worship.
2. The single supreme being worshipped in religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
3. A person who is admired for being extremely good at something.

## Examples
- The ancient Greeks worshipped many gods and goddesses.
- She prayed to God every night.
- To his fans, the singer was a god.

## Synonyms
- deity
- divinity
- godship
- manitou

## Antonyms
- devil
- satan

## Derived Forms
- antigod
- begod
- belly-god
- degod
- demi-god
- demigod
- ex-god
- exgod
- g-d
- giddy
- god-awful
- god-child

## Related Forms
- agnosticism
- apatheism
- atheism
- bitheism
- deism
- ditheism
- divine
- gnosticism
- henotheism
- kathenotheism
- monolatrism
- monotheism

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ǵʰew-
- Root: god
- Root: *god
- Root: *gudą

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English god, from Old English god, originally neuter, then changed to masculine to reflect the change in religion to Christianity, from Proto-West Germanic *god n, from Proto-Germanic *gudą; see there for further origin. Cognates Cognate with Scots God (“God”), Yola God, Gud (“God”), gud (“god”), Saterland Frisian God (“God”), West Frisian God (“God”), god (“deity, god”), Alemannic German, Cimbrian, German, Luxembourgish and Mòcheno Gott (“God”), Central Franconian Jott (“God”), Dutch god (“deity, god”), Limburgish Gód (“God”), gód (“god”), Vilamovian Göt (“God”), Yiddish…

## AI Etymology
God is inherited from Middle English god, from Old English god, originally neuter, then changed to masculine to reflect the change in religion to Christianity, from Proto-West Germanic *god n, from Proto-Germanic *gudą; see there for further origin. The historical line also includes *ǵʰew- (Proto-Indo-European). In current use, the main senses are “A supernatural being with great powers that people worship” and “The single supreme being worshipped in religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism”.

## Topics
- Religion & Belief

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god