god (English)

Where does "god" come from?

The English word 'god' is inherited through Middle English 'god' and Old English 'god', where it shifted from a neuter noun to a masculine noun to reflect the adoption of Christianity[1][2][3]. This descends from Proto-West Germanic '*god' and Proto-Germanic '*gudą'[1][2][3]. The ultimate origin in Proto-Indo-European remains uncertain, though traditional theories link it to roots meaning 'to call' or 'to pour'[4]. It is not related to the word 'good'[1].

Open questions

The derivation of Proto-Germanic '*gudą' from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to call or to pour is traditional but presents phonological difficulties, and alternative non-Indo-European origins have also been proposed. [4]

Full etymology tree

god (English), 'A deity or supreme being; a supernatural, typically immortal, being with superior powers, to which personhood is attributed.'
- inherited god (Middle English), 'A god or deity; a divine individual.'
  - inherited god (Old English), 'god'
    - inherited *god (Proto-West Germanic), 'god, deity'
      - inherited *gudą (Proto-Germanic), 'god, deity'

Ancestors

*ǵʰew- (Proto-Indo-European)
god (Middle English)
god (Old English)
*god (Proto-West Germanic)
*gudą (Proto-Germanic)

Cognates and doublets

Jott (Central Franconian)
god (Danish)
god (Dutch)
Gud (Faroese)
‐ (German)
𐌲𐌿𐌸 (Gothic)
goð (Icelandic)
Gód (Limburgish)
Gott (Mòcheno)
god (Norwegian Bokmål)
Gu (Norwegian Nynorsk)
God (Saterland Frisian)

Descendants and derived words

God (English)
gaad (Belizean Creole)
antigod (English)
begod (English)
bell curve god (English)
belly-god (English)
bow down before the porcelain god (English)
bread god (English)
by gods (English)
by the gods (English)
culture god (English)
degod (English)

Sources

Updated September 2026

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