Cognates include Russian звать, Sanskrit होत्र and Latin fūtilis (whence English futile). Doublet of futile.

• • (RP) IPA: /ɡɒd/, /ɡɔːd/
  • (America, Ireland) IPA: /ɡɑd/
  • (Australia, New Zealand) IPA: /ɡɔd/, /ɡɔːd/
  • (Canada, Wales) IPA: /ɡɒːd/
  • (Scotland) IPA: /ɡɔd/

god (plural gods)

1. A deity or supreme being; a supernatural, typically immortal, being with superior powers, to which personhood is attributed.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:god

   The most frequently used name for the Islamic god is Allah.

2. An idol.
   1. A representation of a deity, especially a statue or statuette.
   2. (figurative) Something or someone particularly revered, worshipped, idealized, admired and/or followed.

      Leo Messi is my god!

      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Philippians 3:19 ↗:

        whose god is their belly

3. (figurative) A person in a very high position of authority, importance or influence; a powerful ruler or tyrant.
4. (figurative, informal) A person who is exceptionally skilled in a particular activity.

   He is the god of soccer!

5. (figurative, informal) An exceedingly handsome man.

   Lounging on the beach were several Greek gods.

   • a. 1918, Wilfred Owen, Disabled:

     Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts.

6. (Internet, RPG) The person who owns and runs a multi-user dungeon.

see god/translations

1. (often, derogatory, also, philosophy)

god (gods, present participle godding; simple past and past participle godded)

1. (transitive) To idolize.
   • a. 1866, Edward Bulwer Lytton, "Death and Sisyphus".

     To men the first necessity is gods; / And if the gods were not, / " Man would invent them, tho' they godded stones.

   • 2001, Conrad C. Fink, Sportswriting: The Lively Game, page 78:

     "Godded him up" ... It's the fear of discerning journalists: Does coverage of athletic stars, on field and off, approach beatification of the living?

2. (transitive) To deify.
   • 1595, Edmund Spenser, Colin Clouts Come Home Againe:

     Then got he bow and shafts of gold and lead, / In which so fell and puissant he grew, / That Jove himselfe his powre began to dread, / And, taking up to heaven, him godded new.

   • 1951, Eric Voegelin, Dante Germino ed., The New Science of Politics: An Introduction, published 1987, page 125:

     The superman marks the end of a road on which we find such figures as the "godded man" of English Reformation mystics

   • 1956, C. S. Lewis, Fritz Eichenberg, Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, page 241:

     "She is so lately godded that she is still a rather poor goddess, Stranger.["]

• French: idolâtrer
• Portuguese: idolatrar
• Spanish: endiosar, idolatrar

• French: déifier
• Portuguese: deificar
• Spanish: endiosar, deificar

• (British) enPR: gŏd, IPA: /ɡɒd/, /ɡɔːd/
• (AAVE) IPA: /ɡɑ(d)/
• (America) IPA: /ɡɑd/

1. The first deity of various theistic religions, and the only deity in the Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

   Dawn believes in God, but Willow believes in multiple gods and goddesses.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 1 John 4:8 ↗:

     Hee that loueth not, knoweth not God: for God is loue

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 1 John 4:16 ↗:

     God is loue, and hee that dwelleth in loue, dwelleth in God, and God in him.

   • 1741, [Samuel Richardson], Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], 3rd edition, volume II, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […]; and J. Osborn, […], →OCLC ↗, page 388 ↗:

     ...God, the All-gracious, the All-good, the All-bountiful, the All-mighty, the All-merciful God...

   • 1911, Katharine Harris Bradley as Michael Field, Accuser, page 158:

     The Muéddin: God is great, there is no God but God.

   • Paragraph 73, R v Brenton Harrison Tarrant (Sentencing remarks) ([2020] NZHC 2192)

     He (n.b.: a Muslim) has told me that he will not allow one person’s actions to stop him from praying to his God.

   1. (Trinitarian Christianity) God the Father as distinguished from Jesus Christ, God the Son.
2. The single male deity of various bitheistic or duotheistic religions.
3. (philosophy) The transcendent principle, for example the ultimate cause or prime mover, often not considered as a person.

• See Thesaurus:god

• French: Dieu
• German: Gott
• Italian: Dio
• Portuguese: Deus
• Russian: Бог
• Spanish: Dios

• French: Dieu
• German: Gott
• Italian: Dio
• Portuguese: Deus
• Russian: бог
• Spanish: Dios

god (plural gods)

1. A being such as a monotheistic God: a single divine creator and ruler of the universe.
   • 1563, Barnabe Googe, Eglogs, Epytaphes, and Sonettes, sig. Cviiiv:

     A God there is, that guyds the Globe, and framde the fyckle Spheare.

   • 1911, Katharine Harris Bradley as Michael Field, Accuser, p. 158:

     The Muéddin: God is great, there is no God but God.

   • 1960 April 25, advertisement in Life, p. 125:

     Perhaps this... must involve a relationship with a God of truth—and of love, of mercy, of justice.

• French: Dieu
• German: Gott
• Italian: Dio
• Portuguese: Deus
• Russian: бог

1. Short for oh God: expressing annoyance or frustration.

   God, is this because of the "I don't love you anymore" T-shirt I bought? It was a joke!

See god and God.

1. Typographical variant of God, particularly in English translations of the Bible.

   Synonyms: LORD