idol

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈaɪ.dl̩/ UK /ˈaɪ.dl̩/ See IPA manual

Freq #5048

Meanings

1

noun
A person who is greatly admired or loved, especially a famous entertainer.

The young singer was the idol of millions of fans.
2

noun
A statue or image that is worshipped as a god.

The temple was full of golden idols.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who is greatly... icon star superstar

2 noun · a statue or image that is... godgraven image

Word family

Forms idols

Derived forms idol-worthyidolatryidolicidoliseidolishidolismidolistidolizeidolomancyidolomaniaidolousidolsphere

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der. Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eídōlon)der. Latin īdōlumder. Old French idolebor. Middle English ydole English idol From Middle English ydole, from Old French idole, from Latin idolum, from Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “image, idol”), from εἶδος (eîdos, “form”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéydos (“seeing, image”), from *weyd- (“to see”). Doublet of aidoru, eidolon, and idolum and related to idea.

*weyd- Proto-Indo-European ydole Middle English idole Old French idolum Latin εἴδωλον Ancient Greek *wéydos Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

External links

# idol

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈaɪ.dl̩/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈaɪ.dl̩/
**Frequency rank:** 5048

## Meanings
1. A person who is greatly admired or loved, especially a famous entertainer.
2. A statue or image that is worshipped as a god.

## Examples
- The young singer was the idol of millions of fans.
- The temple was full of golden idols.

## Derived Forms
- idol-worthy
- idolatry
- idolic
- idolise
- idolish
- idolism
- idolist
- idolize
- idolomancy
- idolomania
- idolous
- idolsphere

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *weyd-
- Root: ydole
- Root: idole
- Root: idolum
- Root: εἴδωλον
- Root: *wéydos

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der. Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eídōlon)der. Latin īdōlumder. Old French idolebor. Middle English ydole English idol From Middle English ydole, from Old French idole, from Latin idolum, from Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “image, idol”), from εἶδος (eîdos, “form”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéydos (“seeing, image”), from *weyd- (“to see”). Doublet of aidoru, eidolon, and idolum and related to idea.

## AI Etymology
Idol comes from Middle English ydole, from Old French idole, from Latin idolum, from Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “image, idol”), from εἶδος (eîdos, “form”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéydos (“seeing, image”), from *weyd- (“to see”). Doublet of aidoru, eidolon, and idolum and related to idea. The historical chain runs through Proto-Indo-European *weyd-, Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos), Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eídōlon), Latin īdōlum, Old French idole, Middle English ydole, and English idol. In current use, the main senses are “A person who is greatly admired or loved, especially a famous entertainer” and “A statue or image that is worshipped as a god”.

## Topics
- People & Society

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idol

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