Wordsmith.org: the magic of words


A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact  


Home

Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ


Sep 21, 2010
This week's theme
Letter-words

This week's words
emanate
deify
extenuate
elegy
tedium

“All words are pegs to hang ideas on.” ~Beecher
Send some to friends & family
Discuss
Feedback
RSS/XML
Bookmark and Share Facebook Twitter Digg MySpace Bookmark and Share
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

deify or D-F-I

PRONUNCIATION:
(DEE-uh-fy)

MEANING:
verb tr.:
1. To make a god of.
2. To revere or idealize as a deity.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin deificare, from deus (god) + -ficare (to make), from facere (to make). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dyeu- (to shine) that is also the source of diva, divine, Jupiter, Jove, July, Zeus, and Sanskrit deva (god).

USAGE:
"India has given birth to so many reformers of organized religion that one wonders if it is a natural cycle: each of them shows common people the simple but neglected path to a personal faith, but they deify him into a divine status he never wanted, establishing an institution, and the circle begins all over again."
Ananda Lal; Spiritual Cycles; The Telegraph (Calcutta, India); Sep 11, 2010.

See more usage examples of deify in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. -Nelson Mandela, activist, South African president, Nobel laureate (b. 1918)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith