English
deist
Deist comes from New Latin deista, from Latin Deus ‘God’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- ‘to be bright, to shine’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dyew-‘to be bright, to shine’next step skipped: Latin deus
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEDeus‘God’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900deista
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdéiste
- Englishearliest quotation 2018deist
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dyew-‘to be bright, to shine’next step skipped: Latin deus
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEDeus‘God’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900deista
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdéiste
- Englishearliest quotation 2018deist
Earliest quotation: 2018, Steven Pinker, Chapter 1: Dare to Understand!; Chapter 2: Entro, Evo, Info: “It was reason that led most of the Enlightenment…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dyew- ‘to be bright, to shine’
die, journal, journey, divine, diary, dial, divinity, diva, meridian, div, dev, divination, sojourn, jovial, diurnal, deva, deism, 30 more
through Latin Deus ‘God’
joss, deity, deuce, deification, 9 more
Today it means
adj Of or relating to deism and deists.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dyew- / deist