DEITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does deity mean? 

• DEITY (noun)
  The noun DEITY has 1 sense:

1. any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force

  Familiarity information: DEITY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

deity; divinity; god; immortal

Hypernyms ("deity" is a kind of...):

spiritual being; supernatural being (an incorporeal being believed to have powers to affect the course of human events)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "deity"):

Japanese deity (a deity worshipped by the Japanese)

snake god; zombi; zombie (a god of voodoo cults of African origin worshipped especially in West Indies)

god of war; war god (a god worshipped as giving victory in war)

saint (a person who has died and has been declared a saint by canonization)

Phrygian deity (deity of the ancient Phrygians of west central Asia Minor)

Anglo-Saxon deity ((Anglo-Saxon mythology) a deity worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons)

Teutonic deity ((German mythology) a deity worshipped by the ancient Teutons)

Norse deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Norsemen)

Roman deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Romans)

Greek deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Greeks)

Graeco-Roman deity; Greco-Roman deity (a deity of classical mythology)

demiurge (a subordinate deity, in some philosophies the creator of the universe)

earth-god; earth god (a god of fertility and vegetation)

goddess (a female deity)

Chinese deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Chinese)

Persian deity (a deity worshiped by the ancient Persians)

Hindu deity (a deity worshipped by the Hindus)

Semitic deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Semites)

Egyptian deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Egyptians)

Celtic deity (a deity worshipped by the Celts)

sun god (a god that personifies the sun or is otherwise associated with the sun)

sea god (a deity that personifies the sea and is usually believed to live in or to control the sea)

daemon; demigod (a person who is part mortal and part god)

Instance hyponyms:

Arhant; Arhat; lohan (a Buddhist who has attained nirvana)

Boddhisatva; Bodhisattva (Buddhist worthy of nirvana who postpones it to help others)

Quetzalcoatl (an Aztec deity represented as a plumed serpent)

Morpheus (the Roman god of sleep and dreams)

Hypnos ((Greek mythology) the Greek god of sleep; the son of Nyx)

Demogorgon ((Greek mythology) a mysterious and terrifying deity of the underworld)

Holonyms ("deity" is a member of...):

pantheon (all the gods of a religion)

Derivation:

deify (consider as a god or godlike)

 Context examples 

A subtype of delusional disorder characterized by the central delusional theme that the individual has special worth, power, knowledge, or a special relationship to a famous person or deity.

(Grandiose Type Delusional Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

The dwarf planet, discovered in 2005, is named for a creation deity of the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island.

(Hubble Discovers Moon Orbiting the Dwarf Planet Makemake, NASA)

"Now," he continued, again addressing me, "I have received the pilgrim—a disguised deity, as I verily believe. Already it has done me good: my heart was a sort of charnel; it will now be a shrine."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)