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Meaning & History
Derived from Latin deus meaning "god, deity". Latin deus and dīvus "divine" are descended from Proto-Indo-European deiwos, from the same root as Dyēus, the reconstructed chief god of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon. Compare Greek Zeus (Ζεύς, pronounced zdeús), in Aeolic Greek Δεύς (deús). In Classical Latin, Deus was a general noun referring to any divine figure. In Late Latin, it came to be used mostly of the Christian God. It is inherited directly in the Romance languages, as French dieu, Spanish dios, Portuguese deus, Italian dio, and so forth.