daemon means A minor deity or divinity.
daemon is pronounced /ˈdiː.mən/.
Why “daemon” is a great word
A tutelary spirit, minor deity, or personified source of inspiration, especially in classical mythology. From Latin daemōn ("tutelary deity"), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, "dispenser, tutelary deity"). Unlike "demon," a word curdled to connote pure malevolence, or "god," which implies a sovereign throne, a daemon is an intermediary, a whispered influence neither wholly transcendent nor damned. It is the quiet compulsion that guides the artist's hand, the peculiar sense of being watched over in a decisive moment, or the sudden clarity that resolves an intractable problem before dawn—the quiet conviction that inspiration is not invention but reception, a gift passed from a hand one cannot see to a hand one cannot refuse.
Etymology
A borrowing of Latin daemōn (“tutelary deity”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, tutelary deity”).
noun
- A minor deity or divinity.
- A muse, a personified source of inspiration, especially one that also causes anguish.
- An idea depicted as an entity.
- A process (a running program) that does not have a controlling terminal.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.