goddess

US /ˈɡɑdəs/ UK /ˈɡɒdɛs/ See IPA manual

Freq #3954

Meanings

1

noun
A female god worshipped in a religion.

Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom.
2

noun
A woman admired for her beauty, charm, or talent.

On screen she looked like a Hollywood goddess.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms goddesses

Derived forms demigoddessgoddess-queengoddess-shipgoddesshipgoddesshoodgoddesslessgoddesslikegoddesslinggoddesslygoddessshipgoddessygoddex

Related forms god heaven monotheism polytheism

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

earth goddess
a goddess associated with the earth, fertility, or plant growth

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English goddesse, equivalent to god + -ess, formed about 1350. The figurative meaning is first found in Edmund Spenser's Shepheardes calender (1579). Displaced Old English gyden.

goddesse Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Religion & Belief

External links

# goddess

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɡɑdəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɡɒdɛs/
**Frequency rank:** 3954

## Meanings
1. A female god worshipped in a religion.
2. A woman admired for her beauty, charm, or talent.

## Examples
- Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom.
- On screen she looked like a Hollywood goddess.

## Derived Forms
- demigoddess
- goddess-queen
- goddess-ship
- goddesship
- goddesshood
- goddessless
- goddesslike
- goddessling
- goddessly
- goddessship
- goddessy
- goddex

## Related Forms
- god
- heaven
- monotheism
- polytheism

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: goddesse

## Etymology
From Middle English goddesse, equivalent to god + -ess, formed about 1350. The figurative meaning is first found in Edmund Spenser's Shepheardes calender (1579). Displaced Old English gyden.

## AI Etymology
Goddess comes from Middle English goddesse, equivalent to god + -ess, formed about 1350. The figurative meaning is first found in Edmund Spenser's Shepheardes calender (1579). Displaced Old English gyden. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. In current use, the main senses are “A female god worshipped in a religion” and “A woman admired for her beauty, charm, or talent”.

## Topics
- Religion & Belief

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