English
cacodemon
Cacodemon comes from Ancient Greek κακοδαίμων ‘ill-starred’, from δαίμων ‘god’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- ‘to share, to divide’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-1‘to share, to divide’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίομαι1daíomai‘to divide’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίμων2‘god’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκακοδαίμων3kakodaímōn‘ill-starred’
- Englishtodaycacodemon3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δαίμων
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κακοδαίμων
- 3 Wiktionary, English cacodemon
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₂y-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δαίμων‘to share, to divide’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίομαιWiktionary, Ancient Greek δαίμωνdaíomai‘to divide’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδαίμωνWiktionary, Ancient Greek κακοδαίμων‘god’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκακοδαίμωνWiktionary, English cacodemonkakodaímōn‘ill-starred’
- EnglishtodaycacodemonWiktionary, English cacodemon
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- ‘to share, to divide’
time, till, til, tide, tease, tass, 22 more
through Ancient Greek δαίμων ‘god’
Today it means
noun An evil or malevolent spirit.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “cacodemon”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek δαίμων, Ancient Greek κακοδαίμων. 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 *deh₂y- / cacodemon