cacodemon (English)

Where does "cacodemon" come from?

The English noun 'cacodemon' derives from the Ancient Greek compound 'kakodaimon', which meant 'ill-starred'[1]. The first element comes from the Greek adjective 'kakos', meaning 'bad'[1][2], while the second element is 'daimon', denoting a 'genius' or 'divinity'[1]. In Greek, 'daimon' traces back to the verb 'daiomai', meaning 'to divide', which stems from the Proto-Indo-European root '*deh2-i-', meaning 'to divide, cut'[3]. Over time, this composite notion of a bad divine presence shifted into English to designate an evil spirit or a malevolent astrological house.

Open questions

The origin of the Greek element 'kakos' remains unknown, with competing theories deriving it from roots such as Proto-Indo-European '*kak-', '*kenk-', '*kakka-', or from a Pre-Greek source. [2] [5] [6]
The proposed origin of the Proto-Indo-European root '*kenk-' from an earlier root '*ken-h1-' is disputed. [6]

Full etymology tree

cacodemon (English), 'An evil or malevolent spirit.'
- borrowed κακοδαίμων (kakodaímōn) (Ancient Greek), 'having or being possessed by an evil genius/spirit.'
  - compound κακός (kakós) (Ancient Greek), 'As a measure of quality: bad, worthless, useless'
  - compound δαίμων (daímōn) (Ancient Greek), 'god, goddess demigod'
    - suffix δαίομαι (daíomai) (Ancient Greek), 'first-person singular present mediopassive indicative of δαίω (daíō)'
      - inherited *deh₂y- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to share, divide'
        derived *deh₂- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to share, divide'
    - suffix -μων (-mōn) (Ancient Greek), 'Forms agent nouns and adjectives.'

Ancestors

κακός (Ancient Greek)
δαίμων (Ancient Greek)

Descendants and derived words

cacodemonomania (English)

Sources

Updated September 2026

More words starting with C

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris