English
atheous
Atheous comes from Ancient Greek ἄθεος ‘without God/gods’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to do’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s1‘god, godhead, deity’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁sós1reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*tʰehós1‘god, deity’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθεός1theós‘god’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄθεος2átheos‘without God/gods’
- Englishearliest quotation 1612atheous2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄθεος
- 2 Wiktionary, English atheous
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1612, Joseph Hall, The Sages and the Star: “It is an ignorant conceit, that enquiry into nature…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄθεος‘to do’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁sWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄθεος‘god, godhead, deity’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁sósWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄθεοςreconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*tʰehósWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄθεος‘god, deity’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθεόςWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄθεοςtheós‘god’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄθεοςWiktionary, English atheousátheos‘without God/gods’
- Englishearliest quotation 1612atheousWiktionary, English atheous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1612, Joseph Hall, The Sages and the Star: “It is an ignorant conceit, that enquiry into nature…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’
do, fact, deal, hot, defense, fan, benefit, fashion, mid, feature, defence, sufficient, treasury, custom, treasure, theme, ethnic, defendant, ethical, doom, tick, deed, aesthetic, thesis, synthetic, auditorium, auditor, demi, deem, spade, forfeit, ethic, familial, medial, medallion, prefect, certify, ethos, duma, thematic, 110 more
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s ‘god, godhead, deity’
fair, feast, dis, feral, profanity, fanatic, profane, fane, fayre, 20 more
through Proto-Hellenic *tʰehós ‘god, deity’
polytheism, pantheism, 13 more
through Ancient Greek θεός ‘god’
theology, monotheism, theism, apotheosis, theist, 15 more
through Ancient Greek ἄθεος ‘without God/gods’
Today it means
adj Atheistic.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “atheous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek ἄθεος. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- / atheous